The idea that Jennifer Lopez, a woman who defies science by looking roughly half her age, would be the victim of ageist discrimination in the job market is a tough idea for me to get behind. But I totally buy it in the trailer for her latest movie, Second Act.
J. Lo plays Maya, a woman who dreams of a career beyond her job at a store that looks a lot like Wal-Mart. She gets a little help when a kind computer-savvy teenager (her son? Leah Remini’s son?) gives her a new fake identity online, complete with a fake rich-people FaceBook page and convincingly Photoshopped pictures of her hanging out with Obama. Maya’s resume comes across someone’s desk at a big fancy company, and she somehow locks in the job—which makes sense because, hello, she’s J. Lo! How do you not give her every job?
What follows seems to be a battle over identity, self-worth, and business formal attire. This movie seems extremely cute and not extremely cheesy, which is the No. 1 reason I don’t go see movies that look cute in theaters.