Now that romantic comedies seem to be making their grand reentry into the theater (including the movies that make fun of the tropes, like Isn’t It Romantic is proclaiming to), it seems like the time was ripe for one of the rom-com queens to start making movies again. But that isn’t necessarily the movie she falls back into, since Second Act isn’t really a rom-com. The title of the movie may be appropriate for Jennifer Lopez’s current place in the film industry – she worked her way up with the rom-coms, took a break to try her hand at serious material, and now is ready for the second half of her career. Sure, she’s banking on the feelings from her first half films in order to get started, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Will Second Act be the classic that her old films are? Maybe not, but it’s a start, and it could be a sign of where film could be heading (as well as an idea of how to do movies without resorting to reboots and sequels).
About to turn 40, Maya Vargas (Lopez) is at the end of her rope. Despite doing exceptional work at the value grocery store where she has been for the past fifteen years, she is turned down for a management position simply because she never received a college degree. Despite the support of her boyfriend Trey (Milo Ventimiglia) and best friend Joan (Leah Remini), Maya feels like her entire life is at a dead end and wishes that street smarts would count in the same way that a college education does. One day she gets a call for an interview at a prestigious conglomerate company, only to find out when she arrives that Joan’s son Dilly (Dalton Harrod), a computer genius, has completely faked her resume and previous experience in order to get her foot in the door. Despite objections from the CEO’s daughter Zoey (Vanessa Hudgens), Maya is hired and tries to prove to herself that even if she got hired based on a lie, she is more than qualified to work with the best of the corporate world.
Now it’s not like JLo has been doing absolutely nothing – in the past few years she has been in a couple of TV shows, some action flicks, and even lent her voice to one or two animated films. But Lopez is most known for her experience in romantic comedies, many of the classics like Maid in Manhattan and The Wedding Planner (both of which are great, according to my mother). She even copies them a little – Lopez was also a producer on the film, so if she wants to include a dance-off between her and her rival that mirrors her angry dance with Matthew McConaughey in The Wedding Planner, she will go ahead and throw that into the company’s Christmas party scene. The point is, Second Act marks a return for Lopez to her cinematic roots, which may bode well for her in the present film climate. It’s not necessarily a reboot, which is starting to grate on audience more than please them, but it is a return to her previous pattern that did well. The audience is getting an interesting deal out of it – those who remember Lopez’s previous work fondly are getting new stories, but the nostalgia still exists because of the feeling that Lopez knows how to provoke. Second Act plays to her strengths, and those who liked her past work can comfortably enjoy themselves now.
For those who are not the biggest fans of Lopez’s previous work, some of the elements in the movie, while amusing, may be a little more lukewarm than interesting. Some of the commercials for this movie were, at least for me, a little misleading because they heavily feature the relationship between Lopez and Ventimiglia, as if their romance is a cornerstone of the story. Let me clarify right now – it’s really not. This movie is not a romantic comedy, though the trailers like to make you think so. Ventimiglia isn’t even really in the movie, at least not for the majority of the time. This movie is a chick-flick (yes, there is a difference), and the relationships that matter are about the relationships between the women in the story. Lopez and Remini’s friendship is important; the rivalry and respect between Lopez and Hudgens matters. It’s not about boys, it’s about women and how they relate to each other as they try to make their way in the world. Sometimes this dynamic is fun, but sometimes it leaves less for other characters to grow, such as Maya’s two assistants Ariana (Charlyne Yi) and Chase (Alan Aisenberg). The two characters are delightfully wacky, but they’re reduced to a couple of cheap laughs throughout the film, since their primary growth is with each other and doesn’t play into the larger story about Maya and her lack of an education. Even the villain/rival in the story, stuck-up superior Ron (Freddie Stroma) is more of a plot device than a character, since someone has to realize that Maya’s credentials are fake and push her into the climax of the film somehow.
There is a large emphasis on the lack of necessity for education – after all, Lopez’s character never went to college and despite her and Remini spending a decent amount of time convincing Dilly that college is important, she gets her way without that degree and honestly without doing a lot of work (but she still gets an all-expense paid apartment and huge closet of fancy clothes, a New York movie trope if I’ve ever seen one). The entire “unqualified and unfulfilled” plot eventually downgrades to Plot B, with the “big twist” taking over the main storyline about halfway through the movie. And when I say “big twist” I mean it’s big in terms of impact on the story, not big as in a surprise for the audience, because you will definitely see it coming. I caught on about fifteen minutes in, but odds are you will catch it at least five minutes before the actual reveal. Now this isn’t necessarily a story where they want to shock you; the aim here is not for the twist to be a mystery because this is a chick-flick and not a suspense-fueled mystery movie. This really just shows you that this movie is not trying to be more than it is, and the emotion behind the twists and turns is more important than the actual story is.
3.5 / 5
There is a certain scene with doves that feels a little out of place with the rest of the movie…more like maybe Kevin Hart sneaked onset and slipped a few lines into the script?
ReelTalk 