@thearmag3ddon here with yet Another Amazon Original Movie Music Hybrid Video Thingee that you didn’t ask for Review that you didn’t ask for:
TLDR, Ashanti deserves so much better.
This is Me…Now: A Love Story, on an ostensible level is just what it says, a love story, now, for one miss Jenny today. If I was motivated to cast this endeavor in a positive light I would say it is a maturation for JLO as it postures toward the idea of self-reflection, as it acknowledges her past specifically when it comes to her always high profile romantic relationships. Which….
One of the main disconnects I had with it was this, that as it is trying its best to show us that Jennifah is now just so very self aware about the discussions around her dating and marriage history, in fact the entire endeavor is actually rooted in self-adulation or something akin to that, so it comes off with an air of being disingenuous. Like, I see what I see with my eyes, but don’t really think you have come to these deep down thoughtful realizations in actuality. It’s almost like how a serial killer might mask as whatever society’s idea is of being normal but underneath they don’t really feel those things. They understand that’s how you are “supposed to be” but inside really…no. I used the hyperbolic example to illustrate my point more vividly because in reality, most of us experience some level of social pressure or expectation (ranging from level 1 to maybe 5) without resorting to extreme actions like serial killing. It could be as simple as feeling drained from the constant need to greet everyone every day. Living in a society entails navigating these social norms to some extent. However, in this particular situation, the sense of genuineness feels noticeably absent.
Often, as she’s in a scene, emoting about whatever state she’s in regarding her lack of a current relationship and fumbles of the past, it feels a little bit like…oh…do you mean moiiiio? So it feels like it’s missing the point while also posturing toward it.
But really, mostly, this is 30 years too late. This is Me…Now: A Love Story is trying to be as relevant as Moonwalker, Rhythm Nation, Truth or Dare, and Prince’s 3 Chains o’ Gold specifically (Purple Rain not so much because that is a full on narrative that features the soundtrack…because I know you’re saying right now WHAT ABOUT PURPLE RAIN?!) Like these reviews, JLO’s film is something that no one was asking for. Most of these were done at the peak or close to that of each of the relevant artists’ powers and relevance but here, that window is long long gone. An argument could be made that in Prince’s case it was past that point and Chains could never be as good because of that, versus say Purple Rain. There you go. I said it… But yeah, kind of going back to the first point, it feels more like Ms. Lopez is clawing and scratching to stay relevant more than she is trying to give us an expression of art that moves her.
This is highly subjective, but connected to the point about it being bereft of artistic expression, but there are just no bangers. Not today bangers anyway. 2002 Bangers maybe? But not even that. It sounds more like a thing that would exist in that time and maybe chart at a peak of #75 on the Billboard 100. It could exist in that time easily, and might have even created some kind of buzz, but nothing’s going to organically resonate with anyone today.
Lastly, I will say though that the cinematography and production value were actually quite beautiful. Which unfortunately actually highlights how bad the acting is. Womp Womp. I mean I liked the Cell. She’s not a terrible actress. And as far as vocals, Ashanti is great. It’s just like…I dunno. You actually have some pretty decent serviceable movies in your resume, so you might expect that this, with a lot more time spent to improve the craft would be better. But again, it mostly feels like, the “oh, do you mean moi?” quality overpowers everything so maybe the acting was intentional.
LOL I don’t care.
At the end of the day this just feels like mostly vanity, with not much else. Mariah don’t know her, I don’t know her either.
I give This is Me…Now: A Love Story, 1 kind of cool dance numbers in an industrial futuristic warehouse garden thingee, out of 5.
Until the next review that no one asked for, @thearmag3ddon, signing off.