** This review of “This Is Me…Now” contains affiliate links.
Here are my thoughts watching “This Is Me…Now,” Jennifer Lopez’s semibiographical musical film.
It starts with a tale about fueding families and star-crossed lovers. JLo reads this in her signature dramatic, breathy voice.
She establishes that she has always wanted to be in love. We know this about her. Don’t we?
JLo is a factory worker and the heart of the factory is malfunctioning. (The sign literally says heart factory.) The “petal levels” are “critical” … or something. Heart rupture is imminent.
This is all happening during a song called “Hearts and Flowers” of course. I feel like she attempts to write like Taylor Swift but it isn’t as effective.
She also can’t resist calling herself Jenny from the block. First reference is about 6 minutes in, in case you were wondering.
Cut to her therapy session. Fat Joe somehow works as the therapist in this film.
Hearts, flowers, hummingbirds and zodiac signs seem to be the recurring themes.
By the way, Jennifer Lopez looks gorgeous. Her skin looks amazing.
In the next scene, she’s with an abusive man. The lyrics say it’s a “rebound, rebound, rebound.”
This might be the worst song I’ve ever heard. And it’s jarring to hear it while she’s being abused. Glass shatters everywhere.
“It is what it is,” she says. It kind of seems like she is blaming herself. No one deserves abuse, even if they pick the wrong people to love.
Trevor Noah, Post Malone, Kim Petra, Jane Fonda, Sadhguru, Jay Shetty, Keke Palmer, Sofia Vergara, Jenifer Lewis and Neil deGrasse Tyson are now talking about her love life and star signs. What a random assortment of people.
Next she’s dancing at her wedding with Derek Hough. They are great dancers, to be sure. This is her third wedding. The groom keeps changing in every clip, a perfect and self-aware touch.
Apparently the wedding guests aren’t supportive, based on all the comments they keep making.
And the cake on her face — ouch.
Next she’s in couples counseling with all the grooms.
I don’t understand the obsession with zodiac signs throughout the film. “She’s running out of signs” — meaning she’s married/dated all the signs.
Random, but I love the Vanderpump Rules reference from Jane Fonda’s character.
The zodiac counsel wants to intervene in JLo’s love life, but they can’t.
Her friends have an intervention instead.
The intervention is about her need to be in a relationship. She’s a “relationship addict.”
She deflects back to them, pointing out their own relationship flaws.
She’s back in her therapist’s office.
If one thing is clear, it’s that Jennifer Lopez loves love. She wants to be in love. She’s a hopeless romantic.
Her therapist recommends Love Addicts Anonymous.
Back to the zodiac characters. Sofia Vergara is underutilized. She could have added much more to these scenes.
It seems most people in her life have advised her to be alone for a while, but she can’t.
She attends a meeting of love addicts and shares her story. Her fellow Love Addict Anonymous participants break into dance in dramatic fashion.
I just can’t picture anyone wanting to listen to this album on its own. Also, the rapping at one point in the film is just cringe.
She’s whispering again. Why the whispering?
Of course there’s a scene in her “old neighborhood.” She’s Jenny from the block, after all.
A young Jenny says she didn’t get enough love. We learn this is a story of self-love, or the lack of it.
Jennifer Lopez wants us to know it’s been a lifelong journey to find love for herself.
Honestly, this is relatable. I think many people struggle with this.
Lately, it’s even been something I am working on: self-love/acceptance.
This project starts to make more sense now.
Healing her inner child brings that heart factory back to life.
“Had to find my way,” she says in the song “This Is Me Now.”
This scene wouldn’t be complete without a dance number.
There’s another wedding at the end, but it’s not hers! But she sure is upstaging the bride in a gorgeous bronze dress.
And the film could end in no other way than a dance in the rain, accompanied by a hummingbird. The hummingbird ties back into the original story from the first minute of the film.
Is that a glimpse of Ben Affleck in the end?
Watch the film**
Marette Flora is the founder of Floradise blog and personalized gift shop. Marette is a passionate storyteller and creator. She attended the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication.
She is passionate about creating helpful and meaningful things.