Directed by Dave Meyers, Jennifer Lopez’s cinematic embodiment of her album “This Is Me Now” is one of the most discussed releases in 2024. It promised to be something new in the musical genre as it advertised itself from the very beginning. However, from the opening of the plot, we see utter confusion in the narrative. It reaches a certain point where you have to appreciate the writing somewhere before the climax, but the way it ends the story only leaves us with a bitter aftertaste.
Leaving aside the drama, the musical aspect is poorly designed as the lyrics fail to stand alone, nor does the score stand out as perfection. It is a rushed production lacking perseverance. The dialogues of the film also suffer from untimely delivery by most of the guest actors, such as Post Malone, Neil deGriss Tyson, Sadhguru, and others. They were funny in their own ways. But since they were shooting on different dates, it is perhaps the reason behind the lack of sync in the act.
The movie starts like a fairy tale, showing us the love story of Alida and Taroo from Puerto Rico. Later, J Lo describes how Alida and Taroo are separated because someone else decided their fate. Alida rides on a motorcycle with one of her lovers, whose face is unseen in the desert. Then, JLo crashes into a factory that makes hearts. She sings a song called ‘Time is Precious’, looking to try and fix a problem with a broken heart in her dreams.
The movie tries to tell us about JLo’s love life and how she’s been healing. JLo visits her therapist to discuss the problem, whether it’s about herself or the others. JLo’s character struggles with her feelings and tries to understand her addiction to love. Sometimes, the conversations between them feel very honest, but other times, they feel a bit too obvious. JLo doesn’t hide anything about her career or her relationships, which have been talked about a lot in the past.
The movie’s message feels mixed up when it comes to the story. It talks a lot about astrology and how technology can mess up relationships. Plus, there are a bunch of old sayings about love that are thrown in as messages. The main question seems to be about what love really is and why we want it. The movie keeps bringing up this idea of JLo being like a red rose (Alida) looking for a hummingbird (Taroo), where these symbols represent young lovers who couldn’t be together.
But, somewhere between the narrative, this sole message is lost and then, out of the blue, brought upon at the climax of this 65-minute genre-bending musical drama. Honestly, I would give JLo a perfect ten on ten for exploring and trying to put something fresh into the genre. The real problem is the execution, as they have failed in almost every section. The distribution of each section in between the songs is not even in sync. JLo’s adventure can be seen as a failed attempt to make an Indian rom-com that has lots and lots of songs in it.
Now, let’s go through the plot and find out what happens at the end of the film, shall we?
Spoilers Ahead
This Is Me Now (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film starts with the story of Alida and Taroo. Their parents separate them because they come from two different clans that have been at war for eternity. So, knowing that their togetherness is impossible, Alida begs the gods for justice as they turn her into a red rose. Knowing this Taroo also seeks help from the god so that he is able to find Alida. The gods, tricky and complex like always, turn him into a mockingbird. It is believed since then that whenever one sees a mockingbird, one must be searching for the red rose that was once Taroo’s one true love, Alida.
While reminding this story to herself, we see JLo driving with a bearded guy (definitely Ben Affleck) on the beach. Suddenly, an accident takes place that perhaps sends JLo’s lover into a coma. We see JLo have a dream where this scenario leads to a factory. There, a heart-shaped machine is malfunctioning, and it breaks even after JLo tries to fix it. Later, we see her trying to be in a relationship with numerous other men. But somewhere in the middle of the line, JLo does not find any comfort in staying with that person. So, she breaks up and goes into another relationship very soon, resulting in another poor judgment.
What does the Zodiacs Decide?
Seeing JLo fail to stay in a relationship; the representative zodiac signs start to doubt each other’s decision. Sagittarius says that since JLo has been a successful woman. Why does she need an attachment anyway? Also, the way she always attracts toxic men raises a few questions as well. But just when they are discussing something beneficial for her, they see that JLo is marrying someone down on Earth. We see JLo’s friends getting very tired of her third marriage when they are asked to give speeches. All in all, among the three marriages, not even one lasted.
Then, the zodiacs get into a more serious discussion and feel like they must help to rescue JLo from the situation. But, since they cannot directly approach her, they send JLo’s friends to confront her. At that moment, JLo is already dating a guy who even carries a gun. JLo’s friends tell her that she is in constant need of love and attachment, which leads her to make wrong decisions in life. But JLo tells them that she just wants to be happy. For that, doing anything is not wrong at all.
Does Love Addicts Anonymous Help JLo?
While everything seems to be failing, JLo comes to an understanding that she is failing herself as she witnesses a dream. In that dream, JLo confronts her younger self, who screams at her for not showing enough love toward her. At the end of the meeting, the therapist gives JLo advice to join the Love Addicts Anonymous. There, she can perhaps deal with her inner self by listening to what others have to say about their own experiences.
When JLo enters Love Addicts Anonymous, she shares the story of her younger self watching her sister sleep. To me, this is the point when the 1-hour long musical narrative actually hits its top spot. JLo shares how she used to see her sister sleep peacefully while she was awake the whole time. She could never fall asleep like her sister without worrying about anything.
This explains why JLo has a restless heart, as she remembers the times when her friends told her to take things slow. But she never wanted to stop and rethink the decisions she had always made that led to more suffering. She says perhaps that is the reason why, after ten years and three divorces later, after even being fired by her therapist, she has now joined the anonymous group with her dog.
‘This is Me…Now’ (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Who helps JLo to find her Love?
As we come to the end of the film, we see JLo taking time off for a while only to gather her broken pieces and find a way to live each day happily. One of her friends invites her to his wedding and asks JLo not to lose hope in finding love. JLo explains to the therapist, who allows her to come again that at the wedding, she is very happy. She says seeing all of her friends in love helps her believe in love all over again. She is so overwhelmed that her joy shines so bright that the once broken heart is finally repaired.
In the wedding, we see JLo finding a man who has a red rose on his coat, and we see a tattoo of a mockingbird on JLo’s neck. This shows the reunion of two lovers, Alida and Taroo. So, we see JLo reconciling with her broken heart, the lover who was in an accident. Even the Zodiacs are surprised to see JLo helping herself to get to her love. They never thought this would have been possible as JLo was so broken that no one could trigger the joy that lay inside her. But, in the end, it was JLo herself who hugs her younger self in a dream and says, ‘I Love You!’
It is the ‘I’ that helps JLo find her love and stay happy forever after.
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