For her first onscreen film role in three years, Jennifer Lopez slips seamlessly back into a genre she used to dominate: the lightweight comedy. In fact, with its false identity premise, Second Act (watch the trailer below) bears more than a passing resemblance to 2002’s Maid in Manhattan, but instead of a hotel employee with ideas above her station, she plays a Whole Foods-type grocery store’s assistant manager who is passed over for promotion, only to trick her way into a fancy new job under false credentials.
Hired as a consultant for a major beauty company, Lopez’s character, Maya, finds herself going head-to-head with hotshot young executive Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens) in a race against the clock to create a new skincare line. Can Maya prove her lack of tertiary education doesn’t prevent her from excelling? And what of her relationship with boyfriend Trey (Milo Ventimiglia), who is tried of waiting to start a family?
If that were the extent of the plot, Second Act would be a fun but predictable journey towards the inevitable comeuppance for the doubters, but a whole other storyline unfolds that makes the exercise even more preposterous. If you can suspend your disbelief, this is harmless frivolity, with plenty of scene-stealing moments from co-star Leah Remini; if you can’t, admire Lopez and Hudgens’ array of stunning outfits instead. (Out now) 3 stars
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