Stars:
*
Rating: PG-13 for mature
themes
Run
Time: 1 hour,
36 minutes
At this
point it’s safe to say that J. Lo should stick to perfume and kicky workout
wear. Perhaps a CD or two for good
measure.
La Lopez
plays true to type as Charlotte “Charlie” Cantilini, a sweetheart of a
workaholic who loves life and jumps in feet first; as dog-walker, interior
designer, yoga instructor, you name it.
While
catering a swanky cocktail party she meets Mr. Right – hunky Dr. Kevin Fields (hunkier
Michael Vartan). Cute banter and a
couple of dates later the pair are in love and the good doctor wants Charlie to
meet his mother (Jane Fonda as Viola Fields).
Not just
any ordinary mother, but a Barbara Walters clone with a nasty temperament and
diva-on-ice attitude. Mom has been put out to pasture by the network and she’s fit
to be tied.
Naturally
the meeting is a two-faced disaster, air-kisses and smiles masking jealousy and
resentment. Viola is determined to keep Kevin
to herself and she’ll do whatever it takes.
Including
faking a Sarah Bernhardt of a panic attack that gains her temporary residence
at Kevin and Charlie’s groovy Craftsman bungalow. While doc cools his heels at
an out-of-town medical conference Charlie is stuck nursing the volatile Viola. Watch the sparks fly. Watch Viola ratchet up the nasty tension.
Watch J. Lo and J. Fo play hardball.
Lots of
potential for laughs but there are few if any genuinely funny moments. Fonda is uncharacteristically wooden;
unsurprising considering the embarrassing script, every comic zinger a leaden
clunker. Saccharine clichés pepper the
romance – “Stop looking so hard, love is right in front of you” and “Life’s too
short to live the same day twice” – gag me.
Small
saving grace: stand-up comic Wanda Sykes as Viola’s dry-witted assistant Ruby,
whose tongue-in-cheek delivery is a wry oasis in an ocean of sap.