Jennifer Lopez is starring in an upcoming semi-autobiographical film, titled This Is Me…Now. (Amazon Prime Video)
This Is Me… Now is both a (possibly final) studio album and a movie from the mind of actress and singer Jennifer Lopez. It’s been described as a stylised and fictionalised narrative loosely based on her life, as well as her relationship with husband and fellow actor Ben Affleck.
A first trailer showed her falling off a motorbike, an intervention for “sex addict” Lopez and a number of musical scenes – but it’s far from clear exactly what it’s all about.
Nonetheless, here is what critics are saying about the film directed by Dave Meyers, who was responsible for the Sean Bean reboot of the classic The Hitcher in 2007, as well as music videos featuring Usher, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Harry Styles and J-Lo herself.
Entertainment Weekly describes the film as a “curious blend of Hallmark movie, music video and self-help seminar”
“The plot, such as it is, can be summed up thus: once upon a time, a luminous maiden named – God help us – “Artist” (Lopez) suffers a devastating heartbreak when her true love dies in a motorcycle accident. Emotionally shattered by the tragedy, she embarks on a tumultuous healing journey filled with toxic rebound relationships, a trio of failed marriages and a little long-distance guidance from a celestial, celebrity-filled zodiac council… Lopez likely intended for this “cinematic odyssey” to be experienced, not explained.”
The Independent: “What the hell did I just watch?”
“We follow J-Lo as she rants at the world’s most unethical therapist, fights with an unpleasant man (a Libra, no less) who appears to be wearing a macramé plant-holder as a sort of bondage harness, dances around in some sort of cultish wicker arena and bursts into an interpretative dance routine at a ‘Love Addicts Anonymous’ meeting.
“You may well be wondering if This Is Me… Now uses its overly earnest façade as cover for some kind of archly camp masterpiece. Unfortunately, the truth is that it’s not even that much fun.”
EMPIRE has called This is Me… Now a “kind of bizarre visual album”
“Self-financed and resolutely, painfully autobiographical, This Is Me… Now: A Love Story has been accused of being a vanity project for Lopez, an accusation [that] feels meaningless. Of course it is, you would hardly catch her doing some sort of humility project. This is a garish, frequently insane, diamond-encrusted fantasy trip into the mind of a superstar, and we should be grateful to have even limited access.”
The BBC Culture section has all but warned viewers that “it’s unlike anything else out there”
“Among the singing, dancing and the film’s many hurtling scene changes, its central statement is that Jennifer Lopez is really, really talented. It elevates her new music, especially title track This is Me… Now, which is the basis for a stunning showpiece spectacle. Janet-Jackson-inspired choreography, a euphoric narrative arc, and otherworldly visuals, guide Lopez towards her romcom ending, where she finally finds her “hummingbird”, who, when we get a glimpse of him, looks a lot like a certain Hollywood actor.”
The Telegraph: “In this bonkers and unpredictable film-cum-music video, the impossibly glamorous star reflects on her life as a serial monogamist”
“Jennifer Lopez is reported to have spent $20 million (approximately £16 million) of her own money on this extended concept video for her album of the same name. It shows for two reasons. First, the viewer is dazzled by the kind of high gloss that only large amounts of cash can buy, presumably with the intention of blinding them to the project’s lack of purpose or depth.
“Second, if someone else were to hand J-Lo $20 million to make a film, in which she portrays herself as a Disney princess type looking for love in all the wrong places, they would surely say: spend it wisely.”
The Telegraph calls the film a “tour de force”
“What’s most exciting about it, is that behind the lunacy, so much of it works. The editing, music-video frantic, really should have been calmer, to allow the choreography more space to breathe. But the songs are superb, with an extraordinary vivid Dolby Atmos mix: during the title number, I could feel the bass guitar strings thrumming on my forehead. And Lopez is endlessly watchable: warm, funny and impossibly glamorous, even (perhaps especially) on the therapist’s couch.
“It ends with – why not? – a homage to the greatest film Hollywood ever made, as Lopez jigs down an LA street in a midnight downpour, laughing at clouds so dark up above. One imagines Gene Kelly would be flattered, if also confused as to what on Earth he’d just watched.”
This Is Me… Now opens tomorrow (16 February).