Film: Folding Star on Monster-in-Law

From A Winding Road, here's Folding Star's review of Monster-In-Law:

Monster-In-Law

Yesterday afternoon a friend and I went and saw the new Jane Fonda/Jennifer Lopez movie, Monster-In-Law. Now, I'm someone who used to be at the movie theatre two or three times a month. I love the entire movie going experience. The anticipation, the previews (though those commercials they show now suck!), and finally, the moment when the film starts and you settle in, comfortable in the dark, losing yourself in what's on the screen for a few hours.

It's great. Well, maybe the ENTIRE experience isn't great. I mean, sometimes you get talkers behind you who feel the need to express their opinions on every single plot point. That's not so great. And can we talk about cost? I never feel so ancient as when I go to the movies these days and can say "Why, I remember when movies only cost $3.25 for a matinee!"

And let's not even talk about the snack bar! Back in the day, I never saw a movie without a coke and a box of Hot Tamales. I never ate those damn candies anywhere else. They were reserved for the movies.

Now, of course, you just have to avert you gaze as you hustle past the snack bar as fast as you can, usually trying not to look too conspicuous about the stash of outside food and drink that you're smuggling in.

These days, I typically only seem to go to the movie theater three or four times a year, if that. But it's not the rising costs that have driven me away. Quite frankly, there aren't that many films in the past few years that I've felt were worth seeing in the theatre. We seem to be in a dry period for films, at lest as far as I'm concerned. There's just not much to get excited about.

Needless to say, I have been looking forward to Monster-In-Law for months, if not years. Jane Fonda, returning to the big screen after a 15 year absence! And in a film that shows off her comedic talents, no less! The woman is amazing in dramas, don't get me wrong. If you doubt that at all, just take a few hours to watch Klute or They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, or Coming Home.

But as we all saw in 9 to 5, she's also got the talent to pull off comedy and do it very well. Not everyone can do both, and comedy is often said to be much harder than drama, since it's all about timing.

At any rate, I was excited as soon as I heard about this film and it's been a long, slow build up of anticipation ever since, especially as the previews began airing on TV and it looked hilarious.

At long last, there my friend and I were. Opening day, the first showing in fact! That's how excited I was. And as I noted, that's become a rarity lately with films.

I was also nervous. With that much anticipation built up, there was the worry of it being a let down. Not to mention the fact that I'd read surprisingly negative reviews in Entertainment Weekly and the New Yorker, though Rolling Stone loved the movie.

As it turned out, there was no reason to worry. The lights went down, the film began, and before too long I was laughing out loud, along with everyone else in the theatre.

This movie should top your must see list if you have the money to take in a movie any time soon. Jane Fonda is back and she's hysterically funny. In a role that some would have turned into a completely over the top performance, Fonda seems to know just the perfect pitch. She's over the top just enough to make the character work without becoming a total cartoon. In fact, with the shedding of a single tear early in the film, Fonda grounds the character in a very human way before the antics truly start up.

There is a scene early in the film where Fonda's character, a Barbara Walters-esque TV journalist, is interviewing a Britney Spears-esque pop star. For all of us who cringe at the state of music today and saw Ms. Spears' vapid performance in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9-11, the scene will be a delight.

But nearly every scene is. Jane Fonda and Wanda Sykes work together as if they'd been a comedic team for years. The best scenes in the movie belong to the two of them. Jennifer Lopez holds her own quite well in her head to head scenes with Fonda, giving the best performance I've seen from her in a long time.

As great as the rest of the cast is (and there really isn't a bad performance) the movie belongs to Fonda. She's still more than capable of creating magic on the screen.

One of the critics, I believe Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly, panned the movie for setting back feminism. Huh?! I have to wonder what movie that reviewer was watching. This is a movie that belongs to the strong female leads and the amazing supporting performance by Wanda Sykes. Neither of the main characters are anywhere near being anti-feminist. Fonda's Viola Fields is a career woman who has held her own with world leaders, and Lopez's Charlie is a woman who is competent and confident in a number of different jobs and though she finds the man of her dreams, she isn't portrayed in any way as a woman who is lost without a man in her life.

The jibe seems to be directed at the fact that Fonda and Lopez's characters fight a comedic battle of wits and will against each other from the get go. So, what are we supposed to take from the criticism? That two women fighting on the screen sets back feminism? Perhaps if they were mud wrestling in bikinis, I might see a point to that hollow point of view. What men can be praised for doing in movies like Meet the Parents, women get booed for doing even better? Please.

The fact is, we've been given a gem of a movie, a fun and funny comedy which stars strong women playing strong female characters.

Monster-In-Law is fantastic. See it soon if you can, you won't regret it.

I myself walked out of the theatre with only one small regret. Now that I've seen Monster-In-Law, who knows who long it will be before something else as good comes along to get excited about seeing?