J.Lo’s gone as low as she go.
With the Ishtar-like catastrophe that was Gigli behind her, and the ill-fated romance known as “Bennifer” long dead, Jennifer Lopez is ready for her Rebirth. So far so good, as her new CD’s already gone platinum since its March debut.
But the true test of Lopez‘s drawing power lies with Monster-in-Law.
A comedy very much in the vein of Meet the Parents, Monster-in-Law represents Lopez‘s first leading role since she and then-love Ben Affleck humiliated themselves in Gigli. If Monster-in-Law can appeal to hopeless romantics who swooned over with The Wedding Planner and Maid in Manhattan, then Lopez can rest easy knowing she’s still in the public’s good graces after her l’affaire with Affleck.
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Jennifer Lopez’s Greatest Hits | |
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| 1. Maid in Manhattan $94M* | |||
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| 2. Anaconda $65.8M | |||
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| 3. The Cell $61.3M | |||
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| 4. The Wedding Planner $60.4M | |||
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| 5. Jack $57.8M | |||
| *As of May 6, 2005 | |||
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Lopez once sang that love don’t cost a thing. Only Affleck paid a heavy price for his doomed dalliance with Lopez. Gigli cooled off Affleck‘s hot streak at the box office, and audiences showed their displeasure with his in-your-face canoodling with Lopez by ignoring Paycheck, Jersey Girl and Surviving Christmas.
Lopez wisely kept quiet last year after breaking off her engagement to Affleck, even going so far as to staying silent about her abrupt marriage to singer Marc Anthony. And, unlike Affleck, Lopez luckily did not have the fate of any films resting solely on her shoulders.
Fearful of the “Bennifer” backlash, Miramax seemingly downplayed Lopez‘s cameo in Jersey Girl by spreading the word that she croaked minutes into Kevin Smith‘s atypically mature comedy. Then Miramax barely let anyone know Lopez served as the object of Richard Gere‘s desire in Shall We Dance?. Also, the showdown between Miramax head honchos Bob and Harvey Weinstein and Disney’s Michael Eisner led to the shelving of numerous Miramax offerings, including Lopez‘s An Unfinished Life.
Once considered a possible Oscar contender for Miramax in 2003, An Unfinished Life can only benefit from its delayed release. Enough time would have passed between the hysteria that surrounded “Bennifer” and this year’s planned release of An Unfinished Life, which smartly arrives after Monster-in-Law. That means the Lasse Hallstrom-directed family drama can live or die at the box office on its own merits. Most important is whether Lopez can hold her own against old pros Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman, whose recent Oscar win lends An Unfinished Life an additional touch of class.
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Jennifer Lopez’s Greatest Flops | |
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| 1. Blood and Wine $1M* | |||
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| 2. Gigli $6M | |||
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| 3. U-Turn $6.6M | |||
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| 4. Angel Eyes $24.1M | |||
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| 5. Money Train $35.4M | |||
| *As of May 6, 2005 | |||
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Also, Lopez–now frequenting Bordertown, a thriller that reunites her with Selena director Gregory Nava–is still very much an unproven commodity when it comes to drama. Witness the recent failures of Enough and Angel Eyes. So Monster-in-Law is more likely to weather the inevitable regurgitation of Lopez‘s love life than An Unfinished Life.
Like The Wedding Planner, Monster-in-Law offers a quiet and humble Lopez swept off her feet by a rich and handsome doctor with excellent bedside manners. Unlike The Wedding Planner, which romantically paired Lopez with Matthew McConaughey, Monster-in-Law puts her in the arms of a lesser-known hunk, Alias‘ Michael Vartan.
But Monster-in-Law‘s insurance policy comes in the form of Jane Fonda, as Vartan‘s overprotective mother.
Yes, most of Lopez‘s teenage fans likely weren’t even conceived when Fonda last appear in theaters, in 1990’s Stanley & Iris. So having Lopez square off against future mother-in-law Fonda won’t mean as much to them as Ashton Kutcher staring down Bernie Mac in Guess Who or Ben Stiller trying to win over Robert De Niro in Meet the Parents.
Fonda‘s deliciously demonic turn in Monster-in-Law, though, should lure older audiences who packed Meet the Fockers just to see Barbra Streisand coddle Stiller. Combine that with the lack of female-driven comedies this side of the Memorial Day holiday weekend and Lopez should enjoy a Guess Who-size smash. And that’s exactly what Lopez needs in order to prove that she’s emerged relatively unscathed from the “Bennifer” backlash, Gigli aside.
The Bottom Line
Monster-in-Law faces the challenge of seeming overly familiar after Meet the Fockers and Guess Who. But squeezing Meet the Parents into a wedding dress gives this fiancée vs. mother showdown a fresh feel. So expect Lopez to finally start to put “Bennifer” behind her and clean up at the box office in a way she hasn’t since Maid in Manhattan.
