Jennifer Lopez’s ‘This Is Me…Now: A Love Story’ Blends New Music With An Intriguing Narrative [REVIEW]

Jennifer Lopez has been making music since 1999. Her debut studio album On the 6 featured hits like “If You Had My Love” and “Waiting for Tonight” and throughout her music career that spans 25 years and 9 studio albums, it’s her 2002 album This Is Me…Then that is getting a sequel.

Released on February 16 in tandem with an Amazon Prime Original of the same name, This Is Me…Now is JLo’s most vulnerable body of work. Jennifer’s love life has been the subject of countless headlines and now she’s taken control of the narrative in an immersive way. The music experience has a subtitle of “A Love Story” and is a “narrative-driven odyssey” directed by Dave Meyers and tells the deemed hopeless romantic’s journey to love through her own eyes with her new music as the backdrop.

Jennifer Lopez in “This Is Me Now…”| “Broken Like Me” segment. Photo: Prime Video

In “This Is Me…Now: A Love Story,” Lopez plays a version of herself simply named The Artist. For the sake of clarity let’s refer to “This Is Me…Now: A Love Story” as a musical film. The story opens with Lopez narrating a Puerto Rican myth told to her character as a child which stirred her heart. In the legend, Alida and Taroo are star-crossed lovers forbidden to be together. Seeking help from the gods, Alida is turned into a beautiful red flower to escape a loveless relationship and Taroo is turned into a hummingbird in constant search of his true love. When The Artist suffers a heartbreak, a factory of women desperately tries to repair it as the first song of the film, “Hearts and Flowers,” is played with intricate choreography.

Jennifer Lopez in “This Is Me Now…”|”Hearts and Flowers” segment Photo: Prime Video

The rest of the musical plays out with The Artist meeting and falling in love with a string of lovers as the Zodiacal counsel above tries to steer her in the right direction. Jane Fonda, Trevor Noah, Jenifer Lewis, Sofía Vergara, Post Malone, and Keke Palmer are among the counsel, Fat Joe plays a therapist to The Artist, Tony Bellissimo, Derek Hough, and Trevor Jackson play the husbands of the Artist, Matthew Law, Brandon Delsid, Alix Angelis, Malcolm Kelner, Ashley Versher, and Danielle Larracuente play the friend group of the Artist, Gilbert Saldivar plays another lover, and Ben Affleck also appears in the film as newscaster Rex Stone.

Jennifer Lopez in “This Is Me Now…”| “Midnight Trip to Vegas” segment. Photo: Prime Video

What I realized about myself watching “This Is Me…Now” is how much of a visual listener I can be at times. I always gravitate towards a beat first when discovering new music and then I pay attention to the lyrics, but sometimes it takes more than that. I need that visual. I heard “Can’t Get Enough” when it was released before the album, and sort of half-listened to it. I watched the video and still wasn’t into the track so much but seeing it in the context of the film the song became tolerable.

In fact, watching “This Is Me…Now” was the first time I heard much of Jennifer’s new music from the album. Hearing it in the context of the narrative she was telling made me enjoy the new work and made me listen to the album immediately after I was done with the film and I’ve been listening to it since. JLo is not a singer to me. Can she carry a tune? Sure, but I don’t consider her a vocalist. I always liked her as an actress though so seeing those dialogue components intertwined with the music was some of the best bits. I also liked how much of the visuals directly related to the tracks. A documentary of “This Is Me…Now” is coming to Prime Video on February 27 and will break down everything that went into putting the music experience together. I’m very curious to see what came first; the music, the concept of the experience, or if they happened simultaneously.

Jennifer Lopez in “This Is Me Now…”| “Rebound” segment. Photo: Prime Video

Whether you’re a huge fan of Jennifer Lopez or not I think you’ll be able to relate to “This Is Me…Now” for one simple reason. Love. At the root of the project is a girl seeking love. There’s a quote in the film that I absolutely love. During a therapy session, the Artist says “I know what they say about me. About hopeless romantics, that we’re weak. But I’m not weak. It takes strength to keep believing in something after you keep falling flat on your face.” That can pertain to love or any other thing that requires a certain level of faith to hold out for desired results. Jenny was holding on to finding her happily ever after and she got it. We’re all just hummingbirds trying to find our flowers.

“This Is Me…Now: A Love Story” is streaming now on Prime Video.

Did you check out Jennifer Lopez’s Amazon Prime Original yet? Did you listen to the album? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Photo: Prime Video