Fresh off her racy halftime performance at Superbowl 54, icon Jennifer Lopez proves that, even at 50, she’s still in the realm of Cleopatra or Aphrodite. Sadly, her 2018 movie “Second Act” is not quite as attractive.
We continue with Fall in Love with February with this romcom – directed by Peter Segal who has done some popular though not highly regarded films in the past. The premise appeared to be one that, whilst done a million times before, is a seemingly solid staple for humor.
J-Lo plays Maya Vargas; a single strong middle-aged woman that has spent the past 15 years grinding out as the assistant manager of a retail department store. She’s passed up for a promotion for no other reason than she lacks a college degree. A friend secretly offers help by conjuring a phony resume (complete with Harvard degree and Peace Corp experience) which lands her a high end consulting job at a Manhattan cosmetics company. “You said you wanted to be fancy.” The friend confesses after Maya finds out what he has done. “So I like, Cinderella’d your ass.”
The theme mimics movies that I love – such as “Opportunity Knocks” and “The Internship.” We know what’s going to happen and how it’s going to play out. Maya has street smarts. She’s able to wow the Wall Street CEO (Treat Williams) despite having only achieved a GED. We also know everyone who has graduated from college is a complete moppet that can barely tie their own loafers. There’s a sinister exec working at the company that thrives to take her down.
The first act of the film is funny in an absurd sort of way. Lopez is a decent actress and fun to watch. She can pull off the comedic parts well, and transitions into the scheme in a natural though implausible way. When she arrives for her first day, she looks up in awe at the top of a skyscraper, and has the looks of someone who has the chops to do what it takes to get a job done. Lopez is joined by veteran comedic actress Leah Remini (“King of Queens”) and rising Holiday movie star Vanessa Hudgens. Her team at work includes a funny assistant (Annaleigh Ashford) and an intern that’s terrified of heights (Charlyne Yi). Maya has a great relationship with her boyfriend Trey (Milo Ventimiglia) and it looks like the makings of a funny, though pretty average movie.
The problem with “Second Act” is the complete lack of direction and focus from a story telling standpoint. We start with the typical premise mentioned above. It’s a simple and easily enjoyable concept. The movie hits the second act (no pun intended) and a completely ridiculous twist is included for no other reason than movie has to movie. Characters and concepts are shoehorned in, and the schizophrenic focus leaves every character and plot line incredibly thin. And if that’s not enough, for some strange reason, it becomes a Christmas movie in the later stages – even though the trees in the park (intricate to one particular scene) clearly display Autumnal colors. Half way in and you’ll be scratching your head in wonder as to what on earth is going on.
“Second Act” could have been a solid though forgettable type of romantic comedy that we all hate ourselves for liking. Instead, it’s just a forgettable movie that does nothing well and should stay off your watch list.
