Second Act - Review
Director: Peter Segal
Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens, Treat Williams, Milo Ventimiglia
Romantic comedies used to be considered a dying breed but over the last couple of years, the genre has witnessed a resurgence with films like The Big Sick (2017), I Feel Pretty (2018) and a host of Netflix originals such as All the Boys I've Loved Before and Set it Up (both 2018). This year's contribution to the revival is Second Act, a film with echoes of Working Girl and Jennifer Lopez's very own Maid in Manhattan - but does it establish its own identity and forge a new rom-com classic?
On her 40th birthday, Maya (Lopez) is denied the opportunity to become the manager of a superstore where she has been working for 15 years because she does not have a college degree. To improve her career prospects, her godson creates Maya a fake social media presence and applies for a cosmopolitan job as a consultant at a skin care company in her name. After impressing the boss (Williams) and securing the job, Maya must maintain her high-profile ruse and juggle the demands of her new shiny life in Manhattan and her old life in Queens.
Never having been one of life's winners and the constant underdog, Maya is determined to secure the well-deserved promotion. Even though her presentation is impressive, she fails to convince those in power that she is the right woman for the job. As her career shows no signs of positive progress, it gives her the motivation she needs to pursue greener pastures and attends an interview at a corporate firm. Her credentials have been fabricated but Maya knows that her street smarts and years of sales experience make her right for the role. On the one hand, Second Act is a slapstick comedy, pratfalls and all, about a woman who finds herself caught in an elaborate lie that she must prevent from being exposed in a series of humorous trials. On the other, it's a melodrama that involves Maya's personal quandary as she contemplates whether or not to start a family with her boyfriend Trey (Ventimiglia) and is racked with shame and guilt over the daughter she gave up for adoption when she was 17.
These disparate narratives are not conducive for a tonally cohesive story and, as a result, Second Act seems to suffer from an identity crisis - much like Maya herself. In one scene, Maya and Trey seriously discuss Maya's reluctance to have a baby and in an another, she quits her job at the superstore in style and sass only to subsequently and literally fall flat on her face. Second Act is made up of two stories, but neither belong together in the same film.
The film manages to coast along on its star power as Lopez is an immensely watchable presence even when the script's glaring plot-holes, lacklustre dialogue and contrivances are out in full force. Her rapport with Remini's character, Maya's best friend, Joan is a delight to watch and Remini relishes the foul-mouthed and no-nonsense role with hilarious gusto, making the most of a standard rom-com trope of the audacious best friend who holds up a mirror for the protagonist.
A film that aims to highlight the struggles of a woman's self doubt and trying to "have it all", Second Act suffers from the came complex by cramming in two parallel narratives that feel as if they belong in separate films - but Lopez remains as charismatic as ever.
EB
Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens, Treat Williams, Milo Ventimiglia
Romantic comedies used to be considered a dying breed but over the last couple of years, the genre has witnessed a resurgence with films like The Big Sick (2017), I Feel Pretty (2018) and a host of Netflix originals such as All the Boys I've Loved Before and Set it Up (both 2018). This year's contribution to the revival is Second Act, a film with echoes of Working Girl and Jennifer Lopez's very own Maid in Manhattan - but does it establish its own identity and forge a new rom-com classic?On her 40th birthday, Maya (Lopez) is denied the opportunity to become the manager of a superstore where she has been working for 15 years because she does not have a college degree. To improve her career prospects, her godson creates Maya a fake social media presence and applies for a cosmopolitan job as a consultant at a skin care company in her name. After impressing the boss (Williams) and securing the job, Maya must maintain her high-profile ruse and juggle the demands of her new shiny life in Manhattan and her old life in Queens.
Never having been one of life's winners and the constant underdog, Maya is determined to secure the well-deserved promotion. Even though her presentation is impressive, she fails to convince those in power that she is the right woman for the job. As her career shows no signs of positive progress, it gives her the motivation she needs to pursue greener pastures and attends an interview at a corporate firm. Her credentials have been fabricated but Maya knows that her street smarts and years of sales experience make her right for the role. On the one hand, Second Act is a slapstick comedy, pratfalls and all, about a woman who finds herself caught in an elaborate lie that she must prevent from being exposed in a series of humorous trials. On the other, it's a melodrama that involves Maya's personal quandary as she contemplates whether or not to start a family with her boyfriend Trey (Ventimiglia) and is racked with shame and guilt over the daughter she gave up for adoption when she was 17.
These disparate narratives are not conducive for a tonally cohesive story and, as a result, Second Act seems to suffer from an identity crisis - much like Maya herself. In one scene, Maya and Trey seriously discuss Maya's reluctance to have a baby and in an another, she quits her job at the superstore in style and sass only to subsequently and literally fall flat on her face. Second Act is made up of two stories, but neither belong together in the same film.
The film manages to coast along on its star power as Lopez is an immensely watchable presence even when the script's glaring plot-holes, lacklustre dialogue and contrivances are out in full force. Her rapport with Remini's character, Maya's best friend, Joan is a delight to watch and Remini relishes the foul-mouthed and no-nonsense role with hilarious gusto, making the most of a standard rom-com trope of the audacious best friend who holds up a mirror for the protagonist.
A film that aims to highlight the struggles of a woman's self doubt and trying to "have it all", Second Act suffers from the came complex by cramming in two parallel narratives that feel as if they belong in separate films - but Lopez remains as charismatic as ever.
EB
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