With ‘Second Act,’ J.Lo reclaims rom-com queen crown

My rom-com queen stepped out on me six years ago, but she’s finally come back — and I am here for the “Second Act” of Jennifer Lopez. The singer-actress-dancer’s first romantic comedy since 2012 hits screens Friday. And while she’s no critic’s darling — hell, she starred in 2003’s infamous “Gigli” — she’s still the one for me. Here’s why: A J.Lo rom-com always hinges on the act of falling in love with yourself, not with some dude. Striving for a fulfilling life and career is the main course: The guy is just dessert. In “Second Act,” Lopez’s latest heroine, Maya, tries to move into management after decades working at a big-box store, only to be told she’s “not the best man for the job.” Her “street smarts” (stop with that, she’s not a Blood or a Crip, just a proud blue-collar worker) can’t compete with “book smarts.” Lopez with Matthew McConaughey in a scene from “The Wedding Planner.”Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection Lopez, a native New Yorker raised in a working-class Puerto Rican family, tells The Post that she immediately felt a connection to the role. “I always felt like I was this little girl with her nose pressed up against the glass looking at this city and all the stuff that was out there — but The Bronx seemed so small,” she says. “That was gonna be my whole life.” Luckily for her fans, it wasn’t. Her first rom-com, “The Wedding Planner” opposite Matthew McConaughey in 2001, topped the box office the same week that her “J.Lo” album dropped atop the Billboard Hot 100. Lopez made history as the first woman to do that — but faced immediate backlash from a critical public. “Everybody was like, ‘She can’t sing. She can’t dance. She can’t act. She’s just a pretty face or her butt is big,’ or whatever they were saying about me,” Lopez says. “I started thinking, ‘Yeah, that’s true,’ and it really hurt me for a long time. Despite the hurt and the pain, I just kept going. I just couldn’t allow myself to let that become who I was.” Lopez in “Maid in Manhattan.”Columbia/Everett Collection Instead, she made an empowering movie: 2002’s “Maid in Manhattan,” in which she plays a maid who falls in love with a rich hotel client. But leading man Ralph Fiennes wasn’t the grand prize: J.Lo’s character ultimately launches a hospitality business — and employs all of her maid friends. Then came 2005’s “Monster-in-Law,” where Lopez held her own opposite two-time Oscar winner Jane Fonda, and she reminded us that we don’t have to change for anybody. Who was the groom in that one again? Yeah, I can’t remember, either. Same goes for her last two films, “The Back-Up Plan” (2010) and “What To Expect When You’re Expecting” (2012). Because the movies don’t matter. J.Lo does. And yes, I know these movies are steadfastly mediocre. Who cares? So is macaroni and cheese. You still crave it. “Second Act” might not get the acclaim of that other hot rom-com, “Crazy Rich Asians,” but why should that matter? It’s not just a crush for me: J.Lo and I are in a long-term relationship. [embedded content] Share this: https://nypost.com/2018/12/20/with-second-act-j-lo-reclaims-rom-com-queen-crown/ The post With ‘Second Act,’ J.Lo reclaims rom-com queen crown appeared first on My style by Kartia.