Stunning musical numbers represent J Lo’s troubles and how she can overcome them.
It would make absolute sense that the new Jennifer Lopez musical “This Is Me….Now” would make its way on Amazon Prime Video, instead of theaters, because it runs for about an hour. Movie prices these days are expensive from $15-20, and if someone saw it in theaters, he/she would be disappointed to be leaving early. I remember when “Winnie the Pooh” came out in 2011, and not counting the short film that preceded it, it ran for about an hour. A woman was pretty mad about that.
Amazon and its new partner MGM have made the right call of releasing it online, and it’s a good short film about how the singer has trouble with romance and how she struggles to find her happily ever after. But maybe she should learn about she can’t be a glutton for punishment.
The musical numbers feature her in a factory with a dying mechanical heart, in a glasshouse with an abusive boyfriend, at her weddings, her Love Addicts Anonymous (LAA) meeting, her moment of rediscovery, and a number that loves “Singin’ in the Rain.”
Among the A-list stars, you have J Lo’s current husband Ben Affleck in a dual role as a biker in her love story and anchorman Rex Stone, and Fat Joe playing her therapist. These are among the moments when no-one is singing.
And we have the Zodiac signs in the forms of Jane Fonda as Sagittarius, Jenifer Lewis as Gemini, Post Malone as Leo, Trevor Noah as Libra, Keke Palmer as Scorpio, Kim Petras as Virgo, Sadhguru as Pisces, Jay Shetty as Aries, Neil deGrassse Tyson as Taurus, and Sofia Vergara as Cancer. They all know she has her insecurities, including her love addiction, which she must learn to overcome. They can’t help her, but maybe her friends can. These segments are too inferior to merge with Lopez’s story, almost giving us the same reactions some of us had with the celebrity segments in “Fantasia 2000.”
Jennifer Lopez’s last three feature films were “Marry Me,” “Shotgun Wedding,” and The Mother,” and none of them were as fresh as her 2019 hit “Hustlers.” And the last documentary about her I’ve seen and enjoyed was “Halftime.” She is a singer who has her troubles, but learns to overcome them with love and support. And like the doc I’ve mentioned, “This Is Me…Now” shares her passion and emotions, but with more elaborate and visionary musical numbers.
Director Dave Meyers (“The Hitcher” and music videos for Kendrick Lamar, P!nk, and Billie Eilish, among others) has an elaborate taste in music videos, especially when this movie is an odyssey through Lopez’s eyes. Yes, there are CGI effects and green screens, but this isn’t the point of “This Is Me….Now.” It’s about the singer tying to bring herself back together and breaking free from her pathos.
Again, it’s an hour short film, so smart move putting this online.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
