Second Act (2019)

Rating: 5/10
Genre: Rom-Com
Related Titles: The Wedding Planner, The Back-Up Plan, Night School
By Leanne Harragan

Maya Vargas only wants one present for her birthday - a promotion. When she loses her promotion to a college-educated candidate, she sets out to prove that street smarts are just as important as book smarts. 

Second Act appears in it's trailer to be a classic second chance story about love, life and work. That pretty much is what happens in this film, but it really fails find its place in the currently overly-saturated cinema full of Oscar nominated films. That's not it's only problem, it really struggles to choose a plot and stick to it, instead it kind of bumbles it's way through work, life, love and even friendship problems all at once. 

Jennifer Lopez is yet to really catch a break with any of her roles, I feel like she constantly gets cast in similar roles, see The Wedding Planner, Monster-In-Law, The Back-Up Plan, they're all very similar. This role isn't a million miles away from her roles in these, she plays 43 (ish) year-old Maya who just can't catch a break in her career due to her lack of college education. When a fake resume and online personality is gifted to her for her birthday doors begin to open for her and her whole life changes. 

By far the strangest plot line to rear it's head was the meeting of her daughter, one she gave up for adoption 20 years previous - it was just a bit much, on top of everything else that was going on in the film. But it did at least bring in some nice bonding scenes and yet again brings attention to a topic that isn't often touched upon on the big screen, it's always good to draw attention to and begin a discussion about the adoption process and the affects that it has to all those involved. 

Some of the characters in this film were a little strange. The introduction of Hildy was rushed through and she was never really given any proper character development, she's really only a one-dimensional character introduced to inevitably betray the lead. I also felt that some of the other characters were a bit silly, Ariana (while having some fantastically designed quirky costumes) felt a little out of place and it seemed that it was forced into the script for her to have some bizarre lines. I also couldn't really care for scientist Chase, who was really a walking cliché of genius scientist sent out of the limelight for some kind of unexplained reason. To be completely honest, the character of Maya was kind of unlikable, okay she gets given a new life and resumé that opens doors for her but is it ever really right to lie to get ahead? I just found her quite a difficult character to sympathise with and that's always a problem. 

I appreciate the idea that sometimes street smarts can be as valuable as books smarts and it's never too late to reinvent yourself, it all just feels to forced and processed in this film. I did enjoy the relationships that Maya made with people around her and especially the time she spent bonding with her daughter Zoe. The female friendships seemed quite real which is always good to see, they called each other out on their shit and they gave Maya the cold, hard truth on more than one occasion. While it's got some good going for it, it's failure to choose a plot route and stick to it, is ultimately it's downfall for me. 

Rating: 5.5/10

By Rebecca Mannick 

Second Act is one of those films where you mildly enjoy the movie but as soon as you leave the cinema you kind of forget what happens. It's an average film at best but while your watching its easy and mildly enjoyable - you might even laugh once or twice. The basis of the plot was that Maya didn't get the promotion that she deserved, sad and upset she was losing motivation until her best friend's son made her a CV which was entirely false and ended up getting Maya working in the head office of a product that she had some knowledge of. She was tasked in creating a new cosmetic product - all while she had to keep up the lie of who she was and juggling relationships from her life before. 

Jennifer Lopez plays Maya Vargas - yes it is a fairly basic role but she does do it very well. The best connection she has is with her girl friends. They do show some good representations of female relationships which is always good to see. Maya's relationship with best friend Joan was really enjoyable to watch. They bounced off each other so well and made it seem like they had known each other for years. It was also really nice to see Vanessa Hudgens back on the big screen as well - the role as Zoe was complimentary to her acting style.

I could get into the morality of Maya lying about her qualifications and achievements but for me it just highlights how in todays society employers are so worried about the person getting a certificate or passing an exam rather than actually getting someone who has experience and is knowledgable about the job role. But then on the other side - I guess lying to that extent (or playing up to the lie) is it forgivable? On the whole its just a very average film that I wouldn't recommend to be honest. Theres so many other great movies out at the moment I find it difficult to image that it's on any average cinema goers radar.