I didn’t know what to expect when I tuned into Jennifer Lopez‘s latest film This Is Me… Now: A Lovestory.
Over the years, we’ve seen J-Lo pump out a heap of tracks that make you want to shake your ass on the dance floor. She’s also starred in a range of incredible films like Maid In Manhattan, Hustlers and Anaconda (I said what I said!!!!!!). But along the way, she’s also had a few duds — Marry Me and Second Act, I’m looking at you.
But This Is Me…Now: A Lovestory isn’t like any of the other films she’s taken part in. This time around, it feels like J-Lo is playing a fictionalised version of herself in a storyline-heavy, 65-minute music video rather than a film.
But if you’re already shaking your head at the concept, stay with me, because while it was a surrealist blur half of the time, I promise it was an enjoyable watching experience.
The film’s release correlates with J-Lo’s latest album This Is Me…Now, using the songs on the album as a guiding light taking us from one batshit-yet-high-budget dance scene to another.
Take, for example, this video clip below that is a direct cut from the film. It’s fun, extravagant and an absolute bop.
The story follows an exaggerated version of J-Lo through her struggles in life and love. We see her get hitched to a bunch of different dudes, and repeat the same mistakes over and over again as we shift in and out of timelines. At one point — which felt like a surprising Sci-Fi twist — J-Lo is even depicted as a worker in a space-esque factory, doing everything she can to mend a metal, mechanic heart.
Poetic, no?
In between the musical scenes, we meet her guardian astrology angels — who just happen to be portrayed by her celebrity pals representing a different star sign.
There’s Jane Fonda, Keke Palmer, Sofia Vergara, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Kim Petras, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Trevor Noah, Post Malone, Sadhguru, Jenifer Lewis and Jay Shetty.
Then elsewhere in the film is Derek Hough, Trevor Jackson, and of course, her boo Ben Affleck — who almost looks unrecognisable as a news reader named Rex Stone.
Clearly, this is a huge passion project for Miss J-Lo. This Is Me… Now: A Love Story was a self-funded effort which she spent a whopping $20 million dollars on.
Do I think there were better ways she could’ve spent the cashola? 100%. But from the press conference with J-Lo herself, it became clear that this wasn’t simply done for clicks. For her, it was a creative imagining of her life — and it seemed pretty cathartic.
“This [project] was inspired by the music and a moment in life that I wanted to capture, that seemed very kind of magical and even surreal at times that it was happening,” she said.
“I went in the studio and I made this album. And when it was done, I thought to myself, there’s more to this story, there’s something bigger I want to do with this music. I just don’t want to do the normal, put out a video and do this and do that and promo and blah, blah, blah.
“It felt like there was a bigger message. So I called [director] Dave Meyers and we sat down and we talked about it.”
After countless hours of singing to Dave, brainstorming and working together, they came up with a concept.
“I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, which is kind of why I think we created something that hadn’t really been done,” explained Jenny from the block.
“It didn’t fit into any one specific category. Not quite a film, not quite a video, but a story nonetheless, something very original.”
And that’s exactly what it felt like as a viewer. You don’t really know what you’re getting yourself into, but you know it’s something original and compelling.
While J-Lo’s natural musical ability has been a hot topic recently, I think it’s fair to say she’s an incredibly hard-working and talented performer. And in my opinion, This Is Me…Now: A Love Story really shows why she’s been such a mainstay of the industry for so long — the woman is a pleasure to watch.
You can watch This Is Me…Now: A Love Story on Prime Video.
