The Palm Beach Post
May 16, 2005
Sassy Sykes steals "Monster-in-Law'
By Leslie Gray Streeter, Cox News Service
SPOILERS!
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Wanda Sykes isn't the star of "Monster-in-Law."
But it might have been a better movie if she had been.
Of course, this catfight-a-rama, which actually stars Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez, would have to be renamed "Assistant-in-Law." And that, while accurate, really isn't funny.
Whatever it's called, this comedy about an diva former talk-show host (Fonda) and her war against the free-spirited dog-walking artist (Lopez) engaged to her hottie doctor son (hottie TV spy Michael Vartan) is a lot better than its leaps of logic and uneasy "War of the Roses"-style comic ugliness would imply.
This surprising turn of events is due to the elegant devilishness of Fonda, looking fine and feisty at 67. Also, the breathtaking sets and clothing (Fonda's got this one hat that would have Kentucky Derby ladies crying jealously in their mint juleps) and the fact that, after years of skating by on her pop-stardom, Miss Lopez has finally decided to act again. Welcome back from the block, Jenny.
But there's a predictable sameness to the setup: We've seen "Meet the Parents." And even though Vartan is a fine, fine man, and a pretty good actor, it's strictly the Jane and J.Lo show here. All others must smile gamely and step aside.
All others, that is, except Sykes, whose sassy matter-of-factness as Ruby, Fonda's personal assistant, gives even the simplest of gestures or lines a zingy thrill. "We're gonna need something stronger than this," she says of the bottle of champagne she's holding, as Viola (Fonda), has a violent, sofa-pummeling hissy fit.
Director Robert Luketic ("Legally Blonde") just lets Wanda be Wanda, and the results are way positive.
The movie, by the way, is a little deeper than what the previews make it out to be -- some control-freak mother trying to bump her son's beloved out of the picture. Sure, that's part of the story, but the reasons behind Viola's dislike of Charlie (Lopez) make her, if not more sympathetic, at least more tolerable.
When we meet Viola, she's about to be fired from the talk show she made famous, which is some hybrid of "Oprah " and "The View." Her replacement is a standard-issue dumb young thing, which triggers an on-air freak-out involving the attempted strangling of a vapid Britney Spears wannabe whose stardom, despite her stupidity, confirms for Viola that the days of honoring age and intelligence have gone bye-bye.
After a doctor-prescribed "vacation," Viola decides that she's going to do everything she never had time to do, namely spending quality time with her doctor son Kevin (Vartan). Unfortunately, that quality time's gonna be spent as a threesome, because Kevin's in love with Charlie, the sweet hippie-dippie he meets on the beach.
And during his introductory lunch with Charlie and his mom, Kevin drops to his knee and proposes.
Pardon me, Doctor Man? It's the Believability Police, and we'd like a word with you. What kind of medical professional thinks it's a good idea to spring a new girlfriend and a proposal on your tightly wound mom when she's just fresh from the funny farm?
Don't you know she's gonna lose it again? Who gave you your medical license? Sally Struthers?
And another thing -- one of my pet peeves is when, for exposition purposes, a character gives some long-winded speech containing information that realistically would have been shared a long time ago. Are we actually supposed to believe that after dating for months and even moving in together, Charlie has to ask, "So, tell me about your mom" on the car ride up to meet her?
Huh? What kind of loosey-goosey relationship is this? This woman is sharing utility bills with this man and she doesn't even know his mom's a famous talk-show host? Heck, if I were Viola, I'd think she was shady, too.
Viola's dislike of Charlie is less about wanting her son to be single forever and more about her fears that young women, who have come for her job and her sanity, are now taking her son, too.
With no help from the script, Fonda lets you see the hurt and pain behind Viola's eyes, even when she's being hilariously vicious, and J.Lo, even though she's not a believable hippie, does great stuff turning Charlie's sweet earnestness into shrewd one-upsmanship.
Lopez's chemistry with Fonda is good but never gets to the comfortable dance that Fonda's scenes with Sykes become. If she was nervous going toe-to-toe with an Oscar winner, Sykes never lets on.
When they make the sequel, why not send Doctor Man off to Kenya and have Ruby, Viola and Charlie have a slumber party?
On second thought, do we really need Charlie?
The Flick Chick's Bottom Line: It's the Jane and J.Lo show, but Wanda steals the movie.
Leslie Gray Streeter writes for The Palm Beach Post.
© Cox News Service 2005
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