- Director?: Ted Kennedy
- Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Region: Region 1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: Not Rated
- Studio: ANCHOR BAY
- DVD Release Date: December 6, 2016
- Run Time: 86 minutes
For about the
first 15 minutes of Jennifer Lopez: Dance
Again, I was convinced that this was going to be one of those documentaries
that made me a fan out of the subject through thoughtful consideration and
compelling footage. I even found myself getting choked up over the
inspirational build-up to the first performance of her first world tour, but
quickly after that it became obvious that this is a glorified piece of
marketing, a vanity piece made for fans of Lopez alone. I went from loving to
hating this film in record time.
Lopez may have
built her career on the idea that she is relatable due to her humble
beginnings, but this documentary makes it clear that the opposite is now true. In
the sequence we watch her complain about fame as she casually spends money in Paris boutiques, it is
clear that Lopez has long been blinded by her own ego. She seems to have tunnel
vision now, able to only see her own life and problems, and this documentary
puts them on display in a way that feels completely phony. There are moments of
Lopez crying over her divorce with the camera looking on, and it absolutely
feels like the star is putting on a performance.
I’m not saying her pain isn’t real,
but that the sincerity of it was embellished for the camera’s sake. And on top
of that, she has the gall to say that “there’s no pain like going through a
divorce,” which seems wildly overdramatic considering the real loss people
struggle with on a daily basis. People who aren’t multi-millionaires. Even more
obnoxious is the same level of torturous grief that Lopez has when turning down
$17 million to return as a judge on “American Idol.” Or the section where she
complains about the difficulty of her life, describing the routine of getting
up, exercising, getting a massage, and performing as though it were a chore.
Anyone who has time and the means to get daily massages has no right to
complain. Period.
But footage of
Lopez’s personal life is just a section of the documentary, with plenty of the
film made up of concert footage. This includes the burlesque-style choreography
of her performances, with half dressed male dancers thrusting and
crotch-grabbing suggestively to each song, with choreography that feels left
over from a Magic Mike film (and only a few modestly dressed women kept in the
background, as to not overshadow Lopez). And there are her actual performances,
which we get brief snippets of between the over-produced spectacle of her show.
Every once and awhile between the stripper dancing and fireworks, Lopez does
actually sing and dance.
The worst of the
film comes from the interviews of family and friends surrounding her. They are
all understandably biased about her success, especially the family members
feeding off of it like hungry parasites. And the colleagues and employees all
add talking-head interviews that feel like the verbal equivalent of kissing the
ring. There is even footage of Lopez recounting the praise that others have
given her, as if this documentary needs more evidence of why everyone thinks
she is the greatest. Even the moments where Lopez seems to lose her cool feels
staged for the cameras, and I never got the impression we were seeing the real
diva within, but I’m sure she came out when the cameras weren’t out recording
for this puff piece.
This biased
piece of blatant self-promotional rubbish was originally shot to be released in
3D in theaters, but instead squeaked out a quiet release on HBO. There may be a
few fans disappointed in that. Personally, I think that in any format Lopez’s
personality was likely to come off as 2-dimensional. She worked very hard to
control the way her image was presented, and that just made the narcissism even
easier to spot. Not to mention the film is technically questionable, switching
back and forth between color and black-and-white inexplicably. It may be an
attempt at artistry, but it makes absolutely no sense. In fact, I have no idea
who is responsible, since the only director is specified as the director of the
concert, not the film. So who directed this piece of self-congratulatory
garbage? Somehow I would not be surprised if it was Lopez herself.
Entertainment Value:
3.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 2/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
Special Features: 0/10
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