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6 Degrees Entertainment

'Second Act' [Blu-ray+DVD+Digital]
(Jennifer Lopez, Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens, Treat Williams, Milo Ventimiglia, et al / Blu-ray + DVD + Digital / PG-13 / 2019 / Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

Overview: Maya is a 40-year-old woman (Jennifer Lopez) struggling with frustrations of not having achieved more in life. As an experienced, quick-witted, perceptive employee, she is passed over for a promotion solely because she doesn't have a college degree.

Until, that is, she gets the chance to prove that street smarts are as valuable as book smarts, and that it is never too late for a Second Act.

Blu-ray Verdict: Jennifer Lopez climbs the corporate ladder in a fun workplace comedy that also stars Vanessa Hudgens, Milo Ventimiglia and Leah Remini.

Life, as a certain Yasujiro Ozu heroine once observed, is disappointing and that's certainly the case for the luckless lead character of this new film.

Jennifer Lopez plays Maya, a middle-aged big-box store employee passed over for a promotion because she never finished high school. She lives with a doting boyfriend, Trey (Milo Ventimiglia), who wants to start a family despite her reluctance, which puts their relationship under strain.

Maya can't bear to tell him the real reason for her doubts: She gave up a baby daughter for adoption many years ago. Remember that plot point - it's important!

First thing's first. At a surprise celebration hosted by her wisecracking best friend Joan (Leah Remini), Maya makes a birthday wish for her innate "street smarts" to be more valued.

Jenny from the Block asks, Jenny from the Block receives. Joan's tech-savvy stepson Dilly (Dalton Harrod) secretly reworks Maya's social media presence and résumé.

Suddenly, she's an Ivy League graduate and Peace Corps alumna whose faux-vita catches the eye of Anderson Clarke (Treat Williams), CEO of a cosmetics corporation attempting to rebrand.

Anderson's adopted daughter (note that I said adopted daughter) Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens) also works at the firm and becomes Maya's main competition in the creation of a new organically sourced beauty product line.

Again, she's adopted. I'm sure that's not a particularly significant detail … or is it?

Well, what is very significant, however, is the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945! It seems there was a certain kind of tree that survived the fiery mushroom cloud, and Maya just happens to have an offshoot of that particular flora; from which her new sun-resistant product can be sourced.

Yes, this is an actual never-used-before plot point in the screenplay by Justin Zackham (The Bucket List) and veteran producer and Lopez collaborator Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas.

What else can I tell you without giving too much else away? Well, there's a musical number set to Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" (which I can't say is really good, but the actors do get to strut their weird stuff for a hot second!).

That all said, J.Lo looks movie-star fabulous in her many form-fitting dresses, but for me it's still the comedy scenes that make this film what it is.

Like the scene involving a box full of doves set loose in Central Park. Sure, OK, it's not hilarious given the subject matter, but with the birds exploding on impact after they crash into a passing semi it does still allow some fun slapstick to thrive.

That's hardly up to director Peter Segal's usual high standards though, I'll give you that, his apex being the poop missile-discharging giant hamster in Nutty Professor II: The Klumps!

Weirdly though, no one scene flows smoothly into the next and almost every dramatic crisis is resolved via a pop music-scored montage. At one point, Charlyne Yi, playing Maya's vertigo-suffering assistant Ariana, confesses her love of "kinky" sex. Naughty!

Oh, and Hudgens' character turns out to have a secret talent for photography that would shame Richard Avedon.

In closing, the chemistry between J-Lo and her real life best friend Leah Remini was fantastic and there are truly many laugh out loud moments from a lot of the characters here to admire. I for one really enjoyed this movie and I would like to think that everyone who loves J-Lo will too. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

Connecting with Milo Ventimiglia
The Empowering Women of Second Act
Friendship On and Off Screen
Working with the Ones You Love
Second Act Trailer

www.USHE.com





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