Monster In Law (2005)

[00:00:00] Imagine finding a hot fiancé only to have to deal with their insane mother. This week, we're taking on the 2005 J-Lo and Jane Fonda comedy, Monster-In-Law. Welcome to the No More Late Fees podcast. I'm Jackie.

[00:00:27] And I'm Danielle, and we're just two best friends and ex-blockbuster employees rewatching some of the best and worst movies from the late 90s and early 2000s. This week, we're covering one of the pettiest rivalries in rom-com history, Monster In Law. But before we dive in, let's get into some... If you love the podcast and you want to support us, here's a way you can. Get into the episode, we want to shout out CONQUERing.

[00:00:56] They make fidget rings designed to help with stress, anxiety, and staying grounded, but they also double as really cute everyday jewelry. So whether you're dealing with life, work, or a full-on Monster In Law situation, it's something small that can actually help you stay centered. Head to myconquering.com and use Jackie10 for 10% off your first order. We are not taking on this movie alone. We are very... We had to hire professional help, essentially.

[00:01:23] We have Jason Rhee joining us today. A celebrated event planner, wedding planner, comedian, and community builder. And if there's one thing we know, Jason understands drama, presentation, and timing, which makes him the perfect guest for this movie. Welcome, Jason. Hi. Hello.

[00:01:45] If you want to get to know Jason better, check out this week's bonus episode where we will be ranking the worst in-laws in the 90s-2000s movie history. Okay, Danielle. Yeah. What's Monster In Law about? Well, if you were under a rock in 2005, the movie is about Charlie, who's finally met the man of her dreams, Kevin,

[00:02:09] only to discover his mother, a.k.a. Barbara Walters, Biola, is not ready to give up on her son without a fight. What follows is an escalating battle of sabotage, mind games, and petty revenge as future daughter-in-law and mother-in-law go head to head. The movie stars Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, Michael Bertan, Wanda Sykes, and Adam Scott. The movie was directed by Robert Luketic.

[00:02:40] Robert Luketic? Sure. He directed Legally Blonde, so I should have figured out how to say his last name right in my bed. And the screenplay was written by Anya Kochev. You know, I'm just butchering names today. It's fine. You nailed it, sweetie. You can currently watch it on HBO Max, and I think it's on Prime, but like under one of the other subscriptions. So don't quote me on that.

[00:03:09] Well, before we get started, let's get into our ratings rewind. So you know the drill. Before we get into the movie, we'll reveal the rating our Y2K versions of ourselves would give. Then at the end, we'll see if our current selves agree with our initial rating. Our scale consists of would buy it, would buy it again. The best would play on repeat. Five-day rental. Would watch again. Two-day rental. Eh, it's okay, but nothing to write home about. And same-day rental.

[00:03:35] Trash straight up garbage. Nuts in the gravy trash. That's just death, Jackie. So Jason, we'll start with you. What is your Y2K rating of Monster in Law? I think it was a two-day rental. I think it was two-day rental. I was so young, and I was so young. You're still so young. Yeah, I didn't have a lot of like, I mean, it was so entertaining.

[00:04:04] But these are one of those movies where, again, as I'm older now, I'd have like a different set of eyes. And also with the years and years of wedding planning and understanding this journey for couples, you know, it's changed a lot. But I would say back then, it was a two-day rental. I was just a fan of J-Lo. Yeah, fair. I was also a two-day rental. I think I watched it one time, and then I was like, okay, that's enough.

[00:04:31] And I now adore Jane Fonda. And so, like, I have a special place in my heart. And her, I mean, her acting and everything is fabulous. But in this, where she just gets to be crazy and loud, like, I just, I loved watching her in this. But at the time, I didn't have that appreciation for her. I talked all sorts of shit about this movie, but I ate it up.

[00:05:00] It's a wood buy. I own this movie. And I remember being in the theater laughing so hard watching this movie. And I thought that, like, J-Lo. Okay, so here's the thing. It's conflicting. It is. Because J-Lo is a good actress. Thank you. She is.

[00:05:29] If you go back to. It's Selena. Her Selena day. But even before that, when she was doing Metro. What was that? Wedding planner. Anaconda. Oh, Anaconda. Anaconda, yes. I think. You know what? I got too scared for the big, like, snakes that scare me already and then you make it bigger. No, thank you. So it's going to be hard for me to cover that one. But no, like when she, you know, yes, the out of sight.

[00:05:59] But the movie she did with Wesley Snipes where she was, I think it was like on a train or something. I can't remember, but she was good in that. Those were. Even enough. She was good. Enough. If I had problems with, cause I'm like, stop reheating Julia Roberts nachos, please. Thank you. Money train with it. Thank you. Money train. Yes.

[00:06:25] So I do think she has the chops to be a good actor, but she was getting these roles with these rom-coms. And I think for me personally, it was that these characters were very whitewashed, right? Like a lot of the times they would, they would address that she was a Latina, but then like everything else about it just seemed whitewashed.

[00:06:50] I think wedding planner is the most egregious for me where like her grandma is Italian. Is Italian. I was like, please stop, please stop playing in my face about this, you know? So, cause I just feel like everything doesn't, your character doesn't have to be necessarily about race, but I do think that with a lot of minorities, so much of who we are is our culture.

[00:07:19] Like it's not something that's separated. So it just feels so inauthentic, especially the way that she is in real life where she is always talking about, you know, J-Lo from the Bronx, you know, it just, it always, and the orange drink. If you know, you know, yeah, it just always takes me out of the movie every time. So in this movie is just another example of that. Does she go toe to toe with Jane Fonda? Yes.

[00:07:47] I do think she gets really into it towards the end of the movie, but there's that like sappy, weird, I hate it. I mean, I like, there's no spunk. She the dog walker. Like, right. All of it, all of it starts. I mean, and again, it's, I'm torn because I will be loyal to the J-Lo. I will. And again, she stole Ashanti's voice. So I hate that about it.

[00:08:14] Like, but I do, I am a J-Lo fan. And I, and I, I say that with such sensitivity because as somebody who obviously like pays attention to what's important now, but that was the era of whiteness. And as somebody who grew up being queer and minority, I just, those were the stories that I felt like I, you know, resonated with. But then again, at that time, I think I wanted to be white. And I think I was maybe thinking that I was white.

[00:08:42] So, you know, that's kind of the tough part about watching these movies now. It's like kind of hard to separate that lens. And again, you have like Adam Scott, who's playing a gay man and he's straight. So it's like, yeah, how much of that is like appropriate now. But I also, I don't know. I always have this, like this bias to J-Lo because she's talented and she, she does kill a rom-com and I wish she would go back and I wish she would do it again. But again, maybe it's just not the right time anymore. You know, she's still trying to build, build.

[00:09:12] Build fan base back. Well, she had that weird movie with Owen Wilson. Oh, that was horrible. That one was bad. But the one that we watched at your house, Jackie, was, was actually not bad. The Amazon one where it's Jennifer Coolidge is in it. What is that one called? Oh, I love that one. Yes. Oh my God. Hold on. It's the wedding one again, but it's. Hold on.

[00:09:39] Where they were at the resort and then it was like the, the gorilla, like army men come in. Is that the one? Josh. Yes. Yes. Because we also at your house, we watched the one. Shock and wedding. Yes. That one was good. What is it called? Shock and wedding. And it was really good. 2003 streaming on prime video, January 27th of three. Thank you, Google.

[00:10:05] But again, like that was peak, like that's such peak her energy. And she's so good at playing quirk, but it's also hard because we've now seen so much of her in real life that it's like hard to see her be a dog walker and like be like a flighty ditzy, you know, a ditzy girl that dresses all ditzy. And again, I think you nailed it. She, she's dressing like a ditzy white girl in, you know, in the beach. Like that's her, that's the character she's playing.

[00:10:30] I had the thought that she, I was like, she must've hated every second of scenes with those dogs. She hit the dog in the head with a newspaper. I rewound it. And I was like, did that just happen? Yeah. The dog was humping and she like smacks him in the face. Yeah. Oh, I don't know. Is that JLo or is that the director? Right. But also like as a person, you just feel like, I don't want to hit a dog. Yeah.

[00:11:01] Just as like a human, like, no, please. Can I just be like, shoo, shoo, shoo? I just, yeah, I, I was, you're right. You know what it is, is that we, we know too much about her life and who she is. And it's just like, I'm not buying that JLo is in no damn dress shirt. Wear jeans. Why? Why was she wearing a dress? Yes.

[00:11:30] Because it was the time. Okay. It was a time of our lives. Even that like knitted shawl thing she was wearing with her hair, like with bobby pins. Like she would never, like JLo would never, but I do still have this like sensitivity to her where I'm like, and I love that. And I can, I can commit to the movie and enjoy it because I do love, I do love the character she plays. And I do love this movie so much because I think the, the spy versus spy energy of it.

[00:11:59] And like that, you know, tit versus tat thing. I love that, that banter. Yeah. And the cast is so good. The cast is pretty incredible. So the movie came out May 13, 2005. The budget, surprisingly, the budget was 43 million. I did not expect that. And it made $155 million. I would have to guess that a good amount of the budget probably went to paychecks.

[00:12:27] You can't have Academy Award winning Jane Fonda would, and give her Trump change. So, and the opening week and box office was Monster in Law, number one, Kicking and Screaming at number two, Unleashed. Which one is that? I don't remember that one. And number three, Kingdom of Heaven at number four and House of Wax at number five.

[00:12:51] So the film actually ran 849 sneak preview screenings on Mother's Day. Funny enough, is she in Mother's Day? No, she's not in that movie. No, Julie Roberts is. Okay, my bad. But that's terrible, Bob. Oh, it's the worst. Terrible. So they had 849 sneak preview screenings on Mother's Day before the release.

[00:13:15] New Line's president, however, David Tuckerman, publicly stated that he had doubts about the strategy of like playing this on Mother's Day. But the film actually achieved 90% attendance. And he stated that the marketing department really hit a home run with that. I don't know how. Men should not speak on women. That's what that, right? That lesson is, is men need to leave it to women. He, it's not even just, I don't even think it's just men.

[00:13:43] I think these studio heads who are mostly men are just really dumb. Like, what I'm realizing is if you're rich doesn't necessarily mean you make any sense whatsoever. Because why wouldn't a female driven movie with Jane Fonda and J-Lo combined do well on Mother's Day? About a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law. Like, that seems like a no-brainer.

[00:14:11] But Unleashed is a French action thriller directed by some guy and then written by that terrible man, Luke Bisson. Oh, yeah. Also, just salary info. I don't know if you care, but it says that Jane Fonda was reportedly paid around $10 to $15 for her role. And Jennifer Lopez was reportedly paid around $15 million. Hmm. Interesting.

[00:14:40] So that's half the, the, the budget right there. Just in salary. Hold on one second. Okay. Okay. Roger Ebert, Lil Raj. What did Lil Raj have to say? He gave the movie one out of four stars. Oh! Tomato, tomato, tomato. Oh! And here's what he said. We're constantly talking ill of the dead on this show.

[00:15:07] You do not keep Jane Fonda off screen for 15 years, only to bring her back as a specimen of rabid momism. You write a role for her. It makes sense. It fits her. You like her in it. It gives her a relationship with Jennifer Lopez that could plausibly exist in our time and space. It gives her a son who's not a wandered over after the ER audition. And it's, sorry.

[00:15:36] And it doesn't supply a supporting character who undercuts every scene she's in by being more on topic than any of the leads. You know? I'm not mad at Lil Raj. What? He's little snarky. No. He's not wrong in a lot of parts. But one thing that I read in the articles where Jane Fonda was interviewed about doing the movie and why she decided, because this was like a long hiatus from acting.

[00:16:06] She had essentially retired. So for her to come back out of retirement to do this movie, a lot of people didn't think it made sense. But she said she was just in a stage of life where she just didn't care and wanted to do something really silly and fun. And, you know, everything doesn't have to be so serious. I think that's one of the issues that we're having when it comes to media even now. Everyone has all this shit to say.

[00:16:33] I'm like, why can't we just have silly, stupid movies that make us laugh and feel good? You know? You know who does that really well and I appreciate it is Channing Tatum. He'll just show up anywhere. And you're just like, oh. Isn't that Channing Tatum as a gimp in that movie? Okay. We got it. I think Matt Damon. He does it well too. Yeah.

[00:16:56] He has, like, the list of just random cameos he has is quite extensive. Yeah. He's randomly Loki. He's like, he's like, he's a monkey in Marvel. Well, I also read that Jane Fonda was like, why not do a rom-com vehicle with J-Lo as lead at peak J-Loism? Like, it's a safe bet to do a rom-com.

[00:17:24] Play like the antagonist to J-Lo. You're not going to lose. And she didn't. It made a ton of money. So, businesswoman. I don't know. Maybe I'm also like, you know, rose color eyes with like the history of just what we learned about Jane Fonda after the fact is that she's become, she's always been an activist. Yeah.

[00:17:48] So, in my mind, I'm like, okay, well, maybe that's like why she loved the fact that she could also play opposite Wanda Sykes, who I'm assuming in, even in 2000, we weren't really getting a lot of like people of color in film and to like lead the movie the way that I feel like Wanda. Wanda steals the scene. Like, yes. She's so funny and so incredible in this movie that like, I don't know, maybe there's a lot of different purposes for her. But also, I didn't, I didn't know until we rewatched this that again, it was 15 years that she'd been on.

[00:18:16] This is her first movie back, which I think is very interesting. Also, like Wanda did a lot of improv, like the scene where she's holding the champagne bottle and she, I forgot what line she says, but Jane said that was just Wanda saying it off the cuff. So, I think just the cast was huge for her and just the ability to just be, to have fun.

[00:18:41] Because we have to also remember that like, this wasn't too, this wasn't too far after like she had divorced Ted. What's Ted's last name? Turner. Turner. So, there was like a lot of changes happening. But Little Raj isn't the only one. They mostly got bad reviews, but Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle was one of the few critics who gave the film a positive review, writing,

[00:19:08] It's a crude, obvious comedy, which occasionally clunks, but it's often very funny as well as being a really shrewd bit of popular entertainment. Its appeal resides in a lot of things, not the least of which is a sophisticated awareness of what an audience brings to it. But, like, you know, the audience wants to give it to them. Yeah, like, to your point, it's just like, sometimes we just want to be entertained.

[00:19:38] Like, we, and as long as the writing is good and the acting is good, like, just make us laugh. Like, I don't think the writing was good. I will say that. I think. There was, there was a few times that I realized that in the, in the, in there was like a line about the fish balls, the, the appetizer. And like. Yes. Some of those, like, bits were a little, yeah, they felt a little bit like slapstick in the worst way. But.

[00:20:06] I think the actors carried this movie. Absolutely. Yes. A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Which is a great segue before we get into our cast and crew. We should hear our message from our pod pals. Hey, Sam, do you love rom-coms? Absolutely not. They're the worst. What? Just kidding. They're my favorite thing in the whole world. Yeah, I love them too.

[00:20:34] But my love life has not turned out the way the movies say that it will. I guess put it that way. Well, which do you think came first? The rom-com or our weird ways of thinking about love and romance? Well, that's a real chicken or egg scenario. And it seems like something maybe someone should talk about. Uh, maybe us. Maybe in podcast form. Oh my god, you're so right. Each week on the Rom Complex, we pick a topic and then we chat about the romance movies that have affected our lives.

[00:21:03] For better or for worse. Mostly for worse. It's the Rom Complex with Shelby Sweeterman. And Sam Frontero. Okay, so cast and crew. Mark Ruffalo was initially offered the role for the male lead Kevin Fields, but he declined.

[00:21:26] Okay, so my question for this movie was, here's the thing. If we ever have Michael Fortan on the show, we'll delete the file, delete the file. But I just feel like I have yet to see a movie where he has range. And you know I love him in Alias. I do. But he is literally playing the same person all the time.

[00:21:55] I mean, that is though, I realized that in Hollywood, that is also a type. And again, don't shoot me. But Julia Roberts is Julia Roberts. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Julia Roberts is Julia Roberts. Is Julia Roberts. But I will stand and fight people for Julia Roberts. But it's Julia Roberts. It's the same. Every, like every K-D. It's all Julia Roberts, in my opinion. So I feel like there's people that we love. And Michael Vartan, yes.

[00:22:24] Like he's basic. Okay, but there's a spectrum, Jason. And Julia Roberts. Because I could put Denzel there. Yes, I'm saying that. But they both have the ability to have some range. Yes. Like Erin Brockovich, Julia is obviously not the same as pretty woman. Right. Right. But kind of the same. Yeah. She has moments. I'm not saying that she doesn't.

[00:22:52] But she has moments where I'm like, okay, she can do the thing. Yeah. But Michael Vartan, though, plays Milk Toast. I mean, he would pass an arc with any eye candy. That's what he was, right? That's what he was in this movie. And that's what I was getting to. Although he is Milk Toast in this movie. But I do think that's the point, right? The point of this movie is for these two leads to shine.

[00:23:22] Like if he was really grounded in what he was doing, then it would have thrown maybe the dynamic off. But even still, I don't know. I do get upset with him, too, because he sets Charlie up for success. Yeah. He plays a very passive.

[00:23:44] But then again, I hate to say it, in the realm of real life with weddings and with mother-in-laws, and especially with mothers and their sons. Yeah. His archetype is pretty on certain ways. And then you add the layer of the wasp aspect of it.

[00:24:03] Like, I do think there is a layer of this movie to talk about white womanhood and their relationships with their sons, especially. Like, boy, moms aren't beating the allegations in this movie, I'm sorry to say. But her, you know, Charlie being a Latina and just like how the mom reacts to it. And then it's aggressive, but it's passive-aggressive-aggressive.

[00:24:33] Yeah. And that's, like, anybody who's ever married into a waspy family that may be outside of that culture could so understand what the hell is going on. I'm from Orange County. I'm from Orange County, California. That is all my experience growing up, 100%. But Mark Ruffalo would have been a very interesting choice. Yeah. I didn't even know that. That's such a new. And again, I think maybe he's, like, a little bit darker and, like, dingier in a way where I feel like he feels a little bit interesting. I couldn't.

[00:25:03] I wouldn't be able to see it. I couldn't imagine him as, like, a waspy son. No. He'd be, like, the activist son that's constantly fighting with his waspy mom. Right. Like, he wouldn't be this, like, passive, oh, mom's just being mom kind of thing. Yeah. And he's just so dry. I have a hard time with Michael Vartan just because I've never been kissed. And I'm just like, you tried to date a teenager.

[00:25:31] And then you were mad when you found out she was not, in fact, a teenager. Oh, when we do that movie, Lord help us. So, apparently, Nia Vardalis was originally considered for the role of Charlie. And I just don't see that working at all either. No. Because it was. It's so interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I can see Maya Rudolph, Lucy Liu, Jessica Alba all being considered for the role of Charlie. It's also very fascinating.

[00:26:00] I can actually see Jessica Alba. Yes. Handling it. I can't see Lucy Liu. And I don't know if I can see Maya Rudolph either. But there are characteristics of this, like, kind of, like, hoarder slash, like, carny vibes that she kind of has in the character that I feel like Maya could play better than I think J-Lo did. Where, like, oh, I can see Maya being a dog walker. I can't really see J-Lo being a dog walker. Yeah. Right.

[00:26:26] I think Maya would have been, like, this movie would have been elevated to a whole nother level comedy-wise. Absolutely. Her versus Jane Fonda. Like, it would have been insane. And Maya's just way more grounded in her acting where you can see her being a temp. You can see her doing these side gigs just to get by. Yeah. But also knowing her worth and that she is worthy of marrying Kevin.

[00:26:52] And it's very interesting that all three of these women are, you know, they're minority women but also could do the milquetoast kind of whitewashed thing as well. I think Jessica Alba. Yeah. Jessica Alba would have done the best. I feel like it's kind of like they're, like, the approved people of color, you know, like, at that era and that time, which is unfortunate because now we understand that's tokenism, right?

[00:27:22] But, like, it is interesting because I just now processed the fact that a lot of the jokes wouldn't have also worked if the person wasn't a person of color, which I think is part of the sham of the 2000s rom-coms is that they were all kind of underlyingly racist. Yeah. I don't know if Maya would have, like, Maya was not as popular in 2005 as, like, when Bridesmaid came out.

[00:27:51] So, I, or, well, I'm trying to think. I don't think so. I mean, people knew her from Saturday Night Live if they were Saturday Night Live fans, but I feel like we wouldn't have culture. But I also think Nia, Nia is a very, like, I think that's such a random stretch from the other actresses. It's so interesting how that whole process works. Because, interestingly enough, Nia is white, but she, culturally, she's still, like, would be. Is she white?

[00:28:20] But that's the thing. Like, she's Greek. And when we look at what the spectrum of white is that exists today, it is embodied in white. But, like, when you tap into your, when you're tied into your culture, it does make you a little bit outside. Almost like not, it's like white adjacent, if that makes sense.

[00:28:44] And, you know, not for me to speak on white people's business, but, unfortunately, a lot of the times, as black people, we can be well-versed because we're watching it from the, you know, from the outside looking in. I just think Jessica Alba would have been probably the most equivalent to J.Lo. But I don't think Jessica Alba has the comedic chops that J.Lo does. Oh, no, not in the slightest. No, no.

[00:29:15] Yeah, not in the slightest. Lucy Liu would have been fun, but it's hard, really, it's hard for me to watch her. It made me uncomfortable to watch her in a whitewashed character like Alex in Charlie's Angels. Mm-hmm. So I'm like, I don't want to watch that again. Yeah. Because even in Charlie's Angels, her dad was played by John Cleese, so they were just totally. She was, like, adopted, wasn't she? Yeah.

[00:29:42] Yeah, I mean, but, again, that's also interesting because it is kind of, again, that era where, like, even in Ally McBeal, she wasn't, like, an Asian actress in Ally McBeal. She was the strict, scary, but, like, I don't think they led with the Asian being her thing. But I think what was great about her in Ally McBeal is that she, it was, like, a flip where, I don't know, there was a lot of fetish, fetish, I can never say the word. Fetishization.

[00:30:12] Fetishization. That's a hard word. Anyways, we're off course, but that's okay. It's okay. It's a good conversation. We do like this movie, right? Elaine Stritch, who plays Viola's mother-in-law, wasn't even 13 years older than Jane Fonda, so. Well, Jane loves a good look. When I watched this movie, I was like, okay, damn, this was 2005.

[00:30:38] And, you know, Jackie and I, well, Jackie and I loved the TV show Frankie. Grace and Frankie. Grace and Frankie. And I was like, I don't, she's doing pretty good considering it's 20 years later with her face, like, she was infamous back then for having work done. Yeah. And now it's like, she was 68. Damn. In 2005. How old is she now? 88. Still getting arrested.

[00:31:07] Like, this lady is a legend. She was born in 1937. Wait, Jane Fonda is 88? Yeah. Dang. She's older than Nana. So, I mean, we know she's had work done, but she still looks great for 88. The best surgeons. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's, let's quickly dive into this movie.

[00:31:37] Okay. Talk about the movie. It's always how it goes. Yeah. So, the movie opens. We meet Charlie, played by J-Lo, and we see that she's kind of, she's portrayed as a little bit of a free spirit. She's, she works for a temp agency, and she walks dogs for a living, and she's just kind of living her little, like, L.A. life with. In a beautiful apartment. Right.

[00:32:07] Like, it would cost thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. Yeah. It's like the friends of it all. Exactly. How are they paying for the place? And we also meet her friend, I forgot his name already, played by Adam Scott. Played by Adam Scott. Like, Adam Scott. Remy. Remy. Remy. I love how, how, like, he just goes into everybody's shit. Like, that scene where he comes out with the hat.

[00:32:32] I have to say, as, as, as a gay man, he, he, he did an amazing job, I think. I think he plays it so well where he's not, like, I love the fact that they also didn't make him play overly feminine. They made him play overly sexual, which is, like, very, I would say, like, a stereotype, but it is pretty true. But I did like, I do like his character. I think he's sassy in the best way. And I think he's a great person to play that character.

[00:32:58] I love his shirt that said, I'll be your sugar daddy. Your next sugar daddy or something like that? Yeah, something like that. That was cute. We also meet her other friend who I just known as the, like, drama, drama, drama from How to Live a Girl. Morgan. Yes. Annie Parise. She's gorgeous. She is so beautiful. I think she's so beautiful and such. I love, I love her. I think she's such a great actress.

[00:33:28] She wears a skirt in one scene where it looks like there's, like, beaded words on different panels of the skirt. And I was like, I need that skirt. I love her. I love her. So we see Charlie just kind of hanging out with her friends, working. It seems like everyone enjoys being around her. Like, when she's working at the hospital or the doctor's office, she knows all the patients by name.

[00:33:57] And so, so I'm like, how much of a temp are you if you've been there long enough to, like, know Mr. Jenkins? And I don't know. Did she ever say she was a temp or she just said she, like, worked multiple jobs? I feel like the mom said she's, oh, you know what? You're right. I feel like the mom said she's, like, a temp. At the very beginning, she gets a phone call from the temp agency. Oh. Oh, yeah. Okay. But, you know, the thing with temps is, like, you don't know how long they had.

[00:34:25] Like, so she could have done a really long stretch at one point so everyone knows her. And then she came back. Okay. So that doesn't sound too insane. But now, you know what's crazy? It's like when I was watching that movie and, like, they were looking down on her for being a temp. We're now in this economy where it's a gig economy and people are talking about a portfolio economy where instead of just saying, like, I am a marketer.

[00:34:54] Now it's like you have a portfolio of things that are available to you so that you can make money. And I think that's where we're going to start seeing things. So maybe she was a pioneer. Who knows? Yeah. Multiple streams of income is what it's called now. Yes. It was called floozy and flighty and, like, but now it's called hustling. And, like.

[00:35:16] I would have loved if they, like, were able to dive into the reason that this free-spiritedness came from the fact that, you know, she lost her parents. And so she doesn't want to. Maybe there's some, like, fear behind it or something. Yeah. And I feel like that would have dived, that would have been really good in how she is with her boyfriend. Like, not saying yes to getting married right away would have made more sense.

[00:35:43] I did panic a little bit when she went to leave that apartment and she left the candles burning by her parents. I was like, that's dangerous. And you should blow those out. I know Rory is there. But that's her character. She doesn't care. She's the type to leave a candle. And, like, Rory can't be trusted for candle safety. Those need to be blown out before you leave. But that was just me being, my anxiety was piqued.

[00:36:13] So we see her. She's walking the dogs. And by walking the dogs, she's reading a newspaper on a beach. Like, well, like, after she walked them. I think. That were resting the dogs? Yeah. She's chilling with them. I couldn't get over the fact that the newspaper has a blurred image of a woman. And it's, like, not blurred. I didn't even notice. I know. I could not get over it. I was, like, because I was watching.

[00:36:41] I was, like, why is that newspaper image blurred? But, like, it didn't look like it was blurred, like, post. It looked like it was blurred in the print. And so it just was really interesting where I was, like, okay, I can understand why. But it was, like, a good minute that I think that scene was on. And I was, like, why is it blurred? But that's, again, my ADHD. My ADHD. We just hyper-focus on one thing. The candles for me, the blurred picture for you. Yeah.

[00:37:09] There are so many things that are, like, supposed to give us context clues as to Charlie is bohemian. So, one, bitch ain't got one job. She got multiple jobs. Two, she's wearing the dress over the jeans. We know it's the time. See Ashley Tisdale at the Princess Diaries 2 premiere. Mirror. Okay. But, yeah, so she's wearing that. But she does tarot. She's got candles everywhere.

[00:37:38] She reads her horoscope. So, like, okay, girl, we get it. You're not with the religion stuff, religious stuff. She's bohemian. Yeah. She's outside the box. And I feel like they could have just made her Latina and that would have been enough. Yeah. But, hey, hey. And then while she's sitting on the beach reading her horoscope, it's like, you will find love or something like that.

[00:38:04] And then Michael Vartan runs by in slow-mo Baywatch style and, like, turns and they lock eyes. And it was all over for him, it seems. What is interesting about that scene is that he locks eyes with her and she does this thing where it's almost as if she's looking behind her. And it's hard to see if he's looking at someone else. Right. But then she also doesn't look at him again. She sees that he's cute, sees that he looks at her. I don't think it's me.

[00:38:34] Looks away. And then she goes about her business. And I love when her friends clock her for this because she's like, oh, yeah, I saw him again. And he was so beautiful. And they're like, what happened when you talked to him? Oh, I didn't do that. What? What? But, you know, she saw him again at the coffee shop. And this guy is, like, giving one of the baristas a hard time. Which I think is the girl playing that role is the model from Head Over Heels. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I love her.

[00:39:03] But then I was wondering, like, because I think she's gorgeous and I love Head Over Heels also. But interesting because I wonder who that guy is. The guy that plays it. He's an actor too. Daniel's much better at this than I am. Yeah, but, okay, his name is Mark. Oh, wait, is it Mark Moses? That's his name. Mark Moses. Okay, I'll tell you what other movie he was in. He was in Desperate Housewives. Yes, he was. And Mad Men. Yeah. I was like, I know he's somebody.

[00:39:32] Big Mama's House 2 is also one of his. But he looked like somebody that, like, cameoed. But I guess he wasn't a cameo. But it seemed like a perfect position for a cameo of, like, the writer or, like, you know, what the model guy would do. Or Ben Affleck showing up. Okay. But you know how I am. Connect the dots for me, Danielle.

[00:39:59] What I love about this movie is that it adds to the lore of Ben, Jen, and Bennifer. Because Michael Vartan was on the show Alias. And when Jennifer Garner first started on the show, she was married to Scott Foley. And then they divorced. And the rumor was that her and Michael Vartan started to, like, hook up before, like, they were divorced or whatever.

[00:40:27] Then they dated for quite a bit of the chunk of the show. I think Alias lasted for four seasons. By the time we get to the fourth season, Michael Vartan is mysteriously, quote, unquote, killed in the season finale of the third season. Which I was devastated. And then we find out, like, halfway through the fourth season that he's alive. Anywho. Some people say that's because Michael Vartan and Jennifer Garner broke up.

[00:40:53] And it's not the, like, the time periods lapse over each other. So we don't really know when they broke up. And when her and Ben Affleck started to get together. And obviously him and Jen getting together was right after him and J-Lo had their marriage, their wedding called off. And then they broke up. So when we did 13 Going on 30, there's, like, this whole thing about the fact that Jennifer Garner is walking throughout the whole movie.

[00:41:21] And Jennifer Lopez's face is on all these magazines. And it's, like, foreshadowing before her and Ben get together. Wow. So it's just, like, I love how they just keep circling the drinks. Like, insane. And it's still going. Yes. It is. And I did another clip where I was talking about, like, add Blake Lively on top of this. Because she was in the town with Ben Affleck.

[00:41:51] And there was rumors about them being together. But, like, Jennifer Garner had, like, I truly believe that she fucking hates that girl. I mean, I don't know. I also loved Jennifer Garner until I saw that, like. The round table. Yes. And I was like, what is her deal right now? Who is she mad at? We have to remember. As. I usually ride or die for Jennifer Garner. But we have to remember the girl is from Virginia. Yeah.

[00:42:20] I don't care how Democrat she is. There's a lot of unlearned. There's a lot of unlearning she needs to do. Yeah. It was just such a. It was. You can't even edit that to make it seem what it was. It was just. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. Anywho. So. Now. Yeah. We're at the coffee shop. Or we're past. Because they've run into each other. At the coffee shop. Well, and we see.

[00:42:49] Charlie's kind of character. In that. Like. The guy. The mean guy. Drops a 20 on the ground. And so. She throws it in the tip jar. For the barista. Like. She's a girl's girl. So. I have a question for you guys. If you watch this altercation. You see the $20 on the floor. Are you giving it to the girl for the tip? Or are you just saying. I found $20. Oh. I'm giving it to the girl. My initial. Thought.

[00:43:20] Was. To return it to its owner. Because that's the right thing to do. I know. I don't know how. We're friends. I know. And it's just that initial. Like. It should go back to its owner. But then. Like. I reflected. And I was like. No. He's terrible. Give it to the barista. Like. I don't need the $20. As much as the barista needs the $20. Well. I do need the $20. If you want to just. That's a lot of Crunchwrap Supremes. Jackie went all the way left.

[00:43:49] That's actually only like two. It's actually not a lot of Crunchwrap Supremes. The prices are up. Yeah. Depending on where I was in life. I would have been like. I would have taken the $20. Bought me a coffee. Gave her a little bit of a tip. And then take. Take. Take the rest to go. Because I don't know that barista. You know. So. So.