Monster-in-LawMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 31 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 Iffy for 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    A generational spectacle that's fun to witness. Read full review

  • 75
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    It's a hoot to watch Fonda cut loose and mix it up with J. Lo, even when the laughs turn mean-spirited. Read full review

  • 42
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    As for Monster-in-Law, it's tripe on a plate. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times | Carina Chocano

    All I could think about while watching Jennifer Lopez prance through Monster-in-Law was how cool and poised she was in "Out of Sight." Read full review

  • 40
    Washington Post | Michael O'Sullivan

    Ultimately one flat-footed beast. Read full review

  • 38
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Doesn't make the movie worth watching -- even if you're monstrously bored. Read full review

  • 30
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    Shrill, undermotivated, feature-length catfight. Read full review

  • 25
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    Monster-in-Law fails the Gene Siskel Test: "Is this film more interesting than a documentary of the same actors having lunch?" Read full review

  • 20
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    A deeply dispiriting movie, not just because it is grindingly bad but because Jane Fonda actually chose this for her comeback after a 15-year absence from the screen. But it's worse than that. Fonda, one of the best actors of her generation, is downright awful in a role she could have -- and probably should have -- sleepwalked through. Read full review

  • 20
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    A shrunken, cowardly movie in deep denial of its true nature, which is far uglier than it is ever willing to admit. Read full review

View more reviews for Monster-in-Law on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 13+ Predictable romantic comedy lacks kid appeal.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this film includes some loud displays of drunkenness and physical violence, framed as comedy (including Jane Fonda slamming Jennifer Lopez's head onto a table). Though the tone is mostly light, the jokes become repetitive: Fonda and Lopez spar while vapid son/fiancé Michael Vartan stands by (or at one point actually disappears for a medical convention, being a doctor). Characters drink, smoke, and make snide remarks to and about one another.
  • Families can talk about the jealousy and silly fighting between the two primary women. Why do women (in movies) compete over a man's attention? How does the movie make their insecurities into jokes? How might the mother and son develop better communication?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Catfighting women, not exactly innovative.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Slapping.
  • sex false3 Sex: Lovey-dovey couple.
  • language false3 Language: Some strong language.
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Diva goes shopping.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false5 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Jokes made of diva's drinking and drug abuse.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Monster-in-Law Movie Ratings + Reviews

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