J. Lo is looking for a relationship, but this time it's in the movies. The only difference is she and Mr. Right aren't having problems - it's Lopez and her future mother-in-law battling it out.
Charlotte "Charlie" Cantilini (Jennifer Lopez) is your average city girl, working as a receptionist at a doctor's office, and has dreams of becoming a fashion designer. She spends the rest of her time as a dog walker and a yoga instructor, so the innocent, hard-working Charlie has had no time for romance.
But one day, her daily horoscope tells her love is right in front of her. This time it just happens to be a handsome doctor named Kevin Fields (Michael Vartan).
The two of them instantly fall in love and make the decision to move in together. Kevin - totally head over heels in love with Charlie - asks her to marry him. This could not have come at a better time for Kevin, but it's worse for his "big name" newswoman of a mother, Viola Fields (Jane Fonda).
Fired from her job, replaced with a women half her age and feeling as though she has lost everything, Viola quickly decides she should spend her newfound free time with her son, but her plan comes apart when she meets Kevin's fiancée Charlie.
With the help of her comical and blunt assistant Ruby (Wanda Sykes), Viola begins to plan a series of projects designed to destroy Kevin and Charlie's relationship.
What follows is a motion picture filled with some comedic highs - but mostly it's barely average.
This film might have been a battle of Fonda and Lopez, but it was clear there was another star stealing the limelight: Sykes as Ruby.
Coming in on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 25 Funniest People in America, Sykes steals the show with cruel jokes, and constantly refers to Viola as a woman in need of mental assistance.
Unlike her two co-stars, Lopez and Fonda, Sykes appears more comfortable on camera - and her funny facial expressions and comedic timing were an added bonus to an otherwise slow film.
In her role as Charlie, Lopez gives the audience a mediocre acting performance, mainly because it is hard to separate her "J. Lo" persona from her character.
There wasn't much of a difference between the J. Lo in this film and the one on "Total Request Live."
Vartan doesn't complement Lopez's acting, maintaining his pretty-boy image. The only funny thing about Vartan is his lack of humor throughout the entire film. Both of them should stick to drama.
But Fonda, was it really worth it? First Robert Duvall in "Kicking & Screaming" - and now you. There is a string of award-winning actors and actresses that want to put a stake through the heart of their legendary careers.
On screen, Fonda provides the energy and spontaneity needed to keep the viewers attention, but it is slightly over the top.
Her continuous need for alcohol in order to cope with her son's engagement to a "temp" and her character's insane plotting to break them up often go too far.
Luckily, the audience does get a much-needed glimpse of what the movie could have been if Lopez had not been cast. Sykes and Fonda offer hilarious arguments and fights, along with great on-screen chemistry, and it's one of the few nails holding the movie together.
The casting needed a vital change, as it seemed director Robert Luketic went for the "big names" instead of a good actors.
Overall, the story was interesting enough to keep the audience's attention, and there were enough surprises to distract from predicting what would happen next.
