MONSTER IN LAW Directed by Robert Luketic
Certificate 12A

Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda (pictured) battle it out in this comedy-of-manners snappily and speedily directed by Robert Luketic.
Fonda plays Viola, a sort of Barbara Walters-style TV presenter who loses her job just before her only dear son (a nicely played if thankless role for Michael Vartan) decides to take an unacceptable wife.
While real stability for Viola has never been an issue (she’s never had any to offer), fake stability is her forte and trying to rid her gene pool of the variously employed Charlotte (Lopez) becomes her priority.
The plot is carried by the various strategies and tactics employed by each of the leading women in the run-up to the wedding.
At first, Charlotte doesn’t know her mother-in-law wants her out of the picture completely. But once this fact because blatantly obvious, it is all claws out for one heck of a Hollywood-style running catfight. Female and style-minded moviegoers won’t have had more fun since their last Bette Davis movie.
Between the snappy if very American comedic dialogue, the typically sumptuous Hollywood sets, the flawless makeup and the brilliant wardrobes, there is also the inevitable comparison between Lopez and the 67-year-old Fonda, who proves that good genes will out when it comes to looking amazing in front of a camera.
Wanda Sykes puts in a show-stealing performance as Viola’s no-nonsense, cool-as-a-cucumber personal assistant; she’s one lady who knows when the liquor cupboard needs to be locked-up.
Look out for a brief if breathtaking cameo appearance by Elaine Stritch. While this is far from a classic such as The Women in smart-alecky speed, this is as near as one can get to a rousing female comedy from Tinsel Town.