Second Act is one of those movies you too easily roll your eyes at and ignore. Jennifer Lopez in a wacky workplace comedy where she’s underestimated and comes through in the end? The beats of these movies are never really in doubt. However, in this particular one, there are some genuine pieces of insight that keep the movie interesting while all the schmaltz happens. Plus, J Lo proves she still has the moves.
Maya (J Lo) has helped make her little department store in Queens become one of the most profitable ones in the corporation. However, because she doesn’t have a college degree, she gets passed over for someone with zero connection to the store and its employees. On Maya’s birthday, her best friend Joan (Leah Remini) gets her a present to remember: she forges Maya a fake resume with all the credentials, including a website. This impressive “fake Maya” gets an interview with a giant beauty product corporation run by Anderson Clarke (Treat Williams). She gets a consultant position with the company, putting her into direct competition with Anderson’s daughter Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens) for fixing a top product line for the company.
Despite the movie’s best intentions, Second Act does find something that needs a full movie’s worth of investment. It truly isn’t fair that someone who works up a company can’t get past a certain point because of a piece of paper from a university. The movie is at its best when it shows some of the truly dumb “team building” activities inexperienced management force on the great workers of a company, and some of the ruthless cost cutting measures that high level executives don’t realize alienate their customers. J Lo does great work showing how frustrating it can be working for people who don’t have a clue what they’re doing, and are using you as a stepping stone to something bigger. Second Act makes it clear that the degree is used as another barrier to success for the less fortunate, and also creates a barrier for the “elites” to hide behind in the guise of their higher status.
However, the plight of the working class is only about 1/3 of the movie’s run time, and sometimes the movie mocks data and science driven people a tad too often in favor of guttural instinct. The other 2/3 of the movie is devoted to the schmaltz that I’m sure most people will be delighted to see, for some reason. You’ll be shocked to find out that there’s a baby given up for adoption subplot that might turn up in ways you weren’t expecting. There’s also a subplot built for Milo Ventimiglia to be shirtless and there to reassure J Lo that she’s the best, and totally worth it. The problem with these plot decisions is that it forces people to act in stupid and dumb ways to get the happy ending the movie wants us to have. The cast does give it their best, but you can only do so much when the story forces you to act in dumb ways, specifically poor Vanessa Hudgens’s character.
That being said, Second Act does mean well, and there’s enough ok jokes, decent acting, and solid messaging that it’s perfect for this time of year. Plus, J Lo gets to dance to some R&B hits, and that alone is almost worth a recommendation right there!