This Is Me…Now: A Love Story

Just two days after Valentine’s Day, Jennifer Lopez’s film This Is Me…Now: A Love Story drops on Amazon Prime. The self-funded feature is a visual accompaniment to her latest album, This Is Me…Now. On the surface, it may seem like a simplistic tale of star-crossed lovers finding their way back together, inspired by the rekindling of her relationship with Ben Affleck. This is initially supported by the opening sequence: an animated piece of the Puerto Rican myth of Alida and Taroo, whose love is separated by their opposing tribes. But underneath all the stimulating visuals and over-the-top metaphors, This Is Me…Now: A Love Story is the tale of Lopez learning to love herself.

The plot is pretty standard: Lopez as the Artist struggles to find a stable relationship. She’s in a constant cycle of falling in love, moving too fast, before crashing and burning. It’s a vicious routine that seems to see no end – so much so that even her friends grow tired of her antics, calling her out for being a “relationship addict”. There are therapy sessions interspersed throughout the film as she reflects on why she feels a certain way, and why she does certain things. The Artist is someone so desperate for value and love that she looks for it in other people rather than herself. This is highlighted in the confrontation between the Artist and her younger self, in which the latter screams: “You love everybody else but me!”

This Is Me…Now: A Love Story is a collection of music videos with one throughline: Lopez’s journey to self-acceptance and love. Its pace moves at a breakneck speed, as evidenced by quick and fluid camera movements and transitions. This complements the flamboyant choreography, showing off Lopez’s dancing prowess. Even in moments of vulnerability, she doesn’t fail to entertain. That being said, nothing about the feature warrants more than a few minutes of exploration. Lopez repeats the same message over and over again throughout its 70-minute runtime. A lot of the content feels very much like filler. She could have produced a five-minute music video and it would’ve been just as effective.

Script and dialogue-wise, the feature has its shining moments. There are some very clever one-liners, and it helps that familiar faces like Jane Fonda, Keke Palmer and Post Malone are the ones delivering them. However, there is an issue with the use of the therapy sessions: these scenes serve the purpose of comedy as well as introspection. But the dialogue is too expository, which takes away from the nuance of the story. There are plenty of scenes that are subtle yet beautifully relay what’s in Lopez’s heart. These are the most uplifting instants in the film, their impact dulled by the therapy sessions sandwiched between them.

Inspiring and engaging, This Is Me…Now: A Love Story is a wonderful insight into Lopez’s mind as an artist – not just in her music, but in film and dance. While there are parts of the movie that feel rather repetitive, especially with the overuse of exposition, this project can’t be discounted as just another rom-com of a hopeless romantic fool failing at love a hundred times over. It has so much more to offer than that. Anyone on that similar path of self-discovery can find themselves in the delicate vulnerability Lopez allows herself to show.

Mae Trumata

This Is Me…Now: A Love Story is released on Prime Video on 16^th February 2024.

Watch the trailer for This Is Me…Now: A Love Story here: