Second Act

Movie, 2018

Premise - A woman working a low-paying sales job at a local store has no opportunities to change her career prospects. As an uncalled for birthday present, her teenage godson forms a fake resume and sends it to a prestigious private finance company. Surprised to be called in for an interview, she proves her strong "street smarts" in the world of sales and is offered the job. Only then does she realize that she's been hired under false pretenses, and this woman who never graduated high school must keep up this lie that she's a Harvard alumni supergal.


Review - I didn't intend to watch this film. My friend's dad put it on the TV and then I just... didn't get up. For the whole movie. That means it wasn't horrible, because if it was, I believe I would have had the decency to get up and do something else. But I stayed planted on the couch for the entire movie so I clearly got something out of it.

It's a dumb movie that requires an extensive amount of suspension of disbelief. The parts that really irked me were about the development of a new skincare product. I'm not sure, because I've never worked in product development... but I'm guessing there have to be extensive trials before you can put something on the market, right? Either by testing on animals or humans? And wouldn't it take loads of scientific research to test out not only a new specific product, but an entire product based on a key ingredient that has not yet been used in skincare? How do they know it works?

Science aside, it's an emotionally feel-good film. I was afraid there might be an unnecessarily forced romantic storyline, but there wasn't. Instead, the film takes a fresh direction by turning her rival, Vanessa Hudgens' character, into her long-lost daughter (spoilers, sorry). There's a mother-daughter heart to the film that I appreciated far more than I had anticipated.

I got my laughs out of it. And Jennifer Lopez is undeniably charming and talented. (70/100)

Quote - "No relationship built on a lie is going to survive"

What to watch for - I mean I always find it refreshing to see Vanessa Hudgens. Gabriella Montez was such a strong role model of mine growing up. I wanted to BE her.

If you liked this movie, I'd recommend Maid in Manhattan!

Directed by Peter Segal
Distributed by STX Films