Jennifer Lopez is winning hearts with her latest musical film This is Me…Now: A Love Story which released on Amazon Prime on February 16th, 2024. The film which is the second installment in a 3-part project, plays out as a quirky romantic drama loosely based on the superstar artist’s experiences with love and heartbreak which ultimately led to rekindling her romance with Ben Affleck.
Interestingly, the ambitious scale of Lopez’s film brings back memories of an earlier project starring David Bowie titled Labyrinth. This musical fantasy film which released in 1986 had all the makings of a cult classic, but unfortunately ended up being a flop owing to its lack of connect with audiences.
What David Bowie’s Labyrinth Could Learn From Jennifer Lopez’s Film
In 1986, David Bowie and 16-year-old Jennifer Connelly starred in a musical fantasy titled Labyrinth. The film follows a teenager who undertakes a journey to the center of a maze to rescue her infant brother Toby whom she accidentally wished away to a goblin named Jareth played by Bowie. The film came with huge credentials including George Lucas as producer with direction by Jim Benson.
Right from the script to the characters to the visual imagery, Labyrinth was imagined on a massive creative scale with the idea to give audiences a completely different cinematic experience. Unfortunately, the film could not achieve what it set out to do and crashed at the world-wide box office despite being a success in the UK.
Critics and audiences felt that the desire to make an ambitious film did not translate on screen owing to the narrative being too incoherent and eccentric. Cut to 38 years later, Jennifer Lopez’s This Is Me: Now: A Love Story is being lauded for taking the same ambition, quirkiness and elements of fantasy that Labyrinth had, and making it unique through excellent execution.
This is a defining factor in the film having received positive reviews from critics. In addition, the project which was written and produced by the singer-actor, has also been applauded for its the production design, cinematography, and Lopez’s performance.
Jennifer Lopez On How her Musical Film Took Shape
Jennifer Lopez has brought her romantic life a full circle with her Amazon Prime film, This Is Me…Now: A Love Story. Having released her 3rd studio album This Is Me…Then during her initial years of courtship with Ben Affleck, the Enough actor has created this musical and visual treat 22 years later to pay tribute to the presence and influence of love in her life.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Jenny from the Block singer elaborated on the reasons behind wanting to represent this album cinematically, and how this perfectly depicted the various ups and downs in her life over the years.
“I was very inspired to make the music at this point in my life with all of the amazing things that have happened to me in the past couple of years and once the music was done, I thought, OK, this is very special. I want to do something special. I don’t want to just take the normal route and so, I created this cinematic experience.”
Lopez added that she was currently in the best place in her life mentally and emotionally, and believed that this was instrumental in her wanting to share these moments of growth and happiness with her fans.
This Is Me…Now: A. Love Story is streaming on Amazon Prime.
Labyrinth can be rented on Apple TV.
