More, it digs into the ideas of motherhood and shame in ways that movies rarely do, at least not ones this glossy and targeted at this audience. Jennifer Lopez's new movie, Second Act, was touted as a simple romantic comedy about a woman who finds herself facing an innocent case of mistaken identity. The way people are marginalized because of that. When Maya makes a birthday wish for a better job, a friend creates a fake persona, resume, and Facebook profile for Maya, which lands her a high-powered position. Plot Twist: Preparing for a Second Act Career January 15, 2014 boomers , Business Coaching , empty nest , Entrepreneurs , finding your passion , second act career , small business owners , Starting a business , Success Coaching boomers , business coaching , empty nest , entrepreneurs , finding your passion , second act career , small business owners , starting a business , success … Spoilers. Jennifer Lopez’s latest comedy, Second Act, promised so much in the beginning. After having seen it, we’d say that Second Act is exactly the movie you want it to be, which we now realize is an absurd thing to say considering that most people who are not reading this have no idea what the movie they’re about to see actually is. Milo Ventimiglia on Why Filming 'Second Act' With Jennifer Lopez Was Harder Than Anticipated. Instead of having a map to follow, the audience is … For several weeks now, film critics and reporters have been harboring a secret, hinting on social media about a December movie with a major twist—and that it’s maybe the last movie you would think. A plot twist is a story development that readers do not expect in which either something shocking happens or something shocking is revealed. There’s a huge twist right at the top of the film, which is actually what it’s about. The Ring is a horror-thriller. And just when she's about to be outed by a fellow exec with an agenda, she comes clean to everyone, damaging her relationship with her daughter once more. Even the antagonist appeared to be at his mercy. Apparently, he knew who Maya was when he brought her in for that job interview -- via the fake resume/persona -- and was really sussing her out to make sure she wasn't a lunatic. "I was adopted," Zoe reveals, answering the question of how two light-haired parents could birth a daughter with dark hair and features. Kate Erbland Dec 20, 2018 11:06 am Not so here. Was she Maya's sister? Was she Maya's daughter? Second, the more acts you have, the more of a straightjacket the structure becomes. The idea that people treat you differently when they think you’re smart based on your credentials and nothing else. I will enjoy watching it on Sunday afternoons on TBS for years to come. Your guide to the latest plot twists and surprise endings, now playing at a theater near you! Truthfully, we really should have seen the J.Lo-Hudgens mother-daughter twist coming from a mile away. Perhaps there is a clue in the credits, where we learn that Lopez is the producer as well as the star. What you've been told about Second Act via the posters, trailers and various interviews is this: Lopez's character, Maya, takes a high-paying corner office job at a private New York City firm -- a major step up from her days spent working at a Value Shop -- after the co-founder is misled to believe she's an accomplished Harvard graduate from Wharton, who spent time in the Peace Corps among other extraordinary feats (all lies, by the way). Warning: Spoiler alert! 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SECOND ACT is an inspirational comedy starring Jennifer Lopez as Maya, a 40-year-old woman struggling with frustrations of not having achieved more in life. Second Act is a 2018 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Segal and written by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Justin Zackham.It stars Jennifer Lopez, Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens, Treat Williams and Milo Ventimiglia, and follows a woman in her forties who successfully pursues a second chance at a corporate career, after a friend creates a fake résumé and credentials for her. Don’t fret. A big box store worker reinvents her life and her life-story and shows Madison Avenue what street smarts can do. He wants kids, she's not so interested. But if you're into rom-coms, want some laughs (Remini's memorable one-liners are a true highlight) and eye candy (see: Ventimiglia's blink-and-you'll-miss-him moments -- OK we're exaggerating, but it was obvious how little he was able to work due to This Is Us), you can't go wrong with Second Act. In a sense, the first plot point is the climax of the first act, and, as such, it should be placed approximately around the 20-25% mark. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist or surprise ending. BioShock has the end-of-second-act plot twist where Andrew Ryan shows that the player was being mind-controlled into doing Atlas' bidding through the whole game, and commits suicide-by-player (by ordering the player to kill him), after which the player pilfers Ryan's body and delivers the Genetic Key to Atlas, who reveals himself as Frank Fontaine, Ryan's biggest rival. Maya realizes this shocking truth when she visits Zoe at her father's apartment to gather some old research, only to discover that Zoe's late mother was blonde. Second Act is not about Jennifer Lopez falling in love, or even, really, about Jennifer Lopez navigating the tricky waters of deceit while working at a job she lied to get. Second Act (2018) Plot. It’s a secret that she won’t tell him but which we learn about because—surprise!—that daughter is now all grown up, played by Vanessa Hudgens, and her coworker at this big new job. Vanity Fair 's Richard Lawson wrote positively about Lopez's performance. Lo movie.). Turns out, that her daughter (played by Vanessa Hudgens) is not only a grown-up now, but is also her co-worker. It may change the audience's perception of the preceding events, or introduce a new conflict that places it in a different context. In SECOND ACT, Jennifer Lopez plays Maya, a 43-year-old woman who's unsatisfied with her life and dead-end job at a discount store. A really complex structure tells you to add a plot twist at this point, a disaster at that point, and so on. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Can you call it a twist when the plot development in question happens near the top of the movie and is actually the movie’s plot, trailer be damned? A year passes where Maya and Zoe don't talk, but it's a rom-com, so only happy endings exist, and they reconcile in the end. A minute ago, at the end of the Second Act, your protagonist seemed to have won a victory.Everything seemed to be going his way. https://www.arcstudiopro.com/blog/three-act-structure-in-screenwriting This film is sold as one thing but tries to be two which about ruins both. Yet no one has any idea that it is what the movie is. BLOCK 3 – This block is all about the first major plot twist and the break into Act 2. Despite being blindsided by his well-intentioned efforts when she arrives at the interview, those street smarts and pavement-pounded experience land her the job—and all of its luxurious perks. Which, again, underlines how silly it is that this aspect of the movie is being kept a total secret. The story the film was sold on is about women in a dead end job who is given a chance at a big league job by a faked resume. The synopsis below may give away important plot points. The movie is perfectly enjoyable and an actually quite lovely exploration of these complicated mother-daughter relationships, something that should be promoted and marketed. He was getting the Truth figured out, and he seemed to have at least pushed the Lie to the back of his life. “Is it Second Act LOL?” one friend joked to me, referring to the sweet and seemingly charming comedy starring Jennifer Lopez that’s been heavily promoted this holiday season and is due to hit theaters this weekend. Because, you know, blood is thicker than water. At one point J. The first plot point marks the finish of the first act, and the character’s reaction to it marks the beginning of the second. Audiences tend to not enjoy being bait-and-switched, and this twist isn’t of such a jaw-dropping nature and blow-your-hair-back shock to add anything to the experience by keeping it a secret. … That is to say, it’s not so much a twist as what the movie is actually about… which is not at all what the movie is being sold as. Act Two picks up where Act One left off and makes up the bulk of your book, running anywhere from the 15% - 25% mark of your story through the 75% - 90% mark. We’re not sure why this is kept a total surprise. Author: Matthew Goldstein Publish date: Jun 16, 2006 1:11 … The major plot twist in Second Act is that Jennifer Lopez’s character had a daughter when she was a teen. Unfortunately, she had to give her up for adoption because of her financial condition. INCITING INCIDENT. Niederhoffer's Second Act Has Plot Twist. Do not proceed if you have not watched Second Act, because you will regret it. When she's pitted against a young, driven exec, Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens), to see whose idea -- an organic versus not-100-percent organic skincare line -- offers the best chance for company profit, that's enough plot and conflict for a typical movie like this. Until, that is, she gets the chance to prove to Madison Avenue that street smarts are as valuable as book smarts, and that it is never too late for a Second Act. ® & © 2021 CBS Studios Inc. © 2021 CBS Television Distribution and CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. Summary: Second Act is a comedy in the vein of Working Girl and Maid In Manhattan. Its second act follows Naomi Watts’ character as she searches for what killed her niece after she watched a video. (If you were wondering what happened with Maya and Trey, they break up, he later finds out -- from Joan, of all people -- about Maya's secret daughter and they resolve their issues and get back together.). Generally, the storyteller will set up expectations and then "twist" those expectations by revealing new information through subsequent plot points. Suddenly 2018 was looking up! And not just the audience discovering that Zoe is Maya’s daughter, but the two characters learning it, too. It is sweet, a paint-by-numbers execution of the PG-13 Jennifer Lopez comedy that is soothingly colored exactly within the lines. But there's a big twist in the second half of the film that was deliberately avoided in the lead-up to its release (because duh, spoilers) that adds a completely different dimension to the story. Milo Ventimiglia would be playing her love interest?! That’s an interesting story. Showing all 2 items Jump to: Summaries (1) Synopsis (1) Summaries. They can also be about thickening the plot with twists and turns that keep the audience guessing, often revealing even deeper, darker secrets. “I wish we lived in a world where street smarts equaled book smarts,” she tells Joan. There's a ton to unpack in this movie; at times, it feels like several films mashed up into one. (That’s more an existential question for you than it is rhetorical. The Third Plot Point is the low moment in your story. For this reason, many of the greatest reversal scenes happen during the third act, often referred to as the “Third-Act Twist.” When the trailer came out for Second Act—heck, when just the announcement was made that Jennifer Lopez would be starring in it—fans of The Wedding Planner and Maid in Manhattan thanked the Hollywood gods for their blessings: J. Even the boundless charms of Jennifer Lopez cannot overcome a mess of a script in “Second Act,” a mishmash that has as much of an identity crisis as its name-switching, past-hiding, resume-inflating main character. Often called the point of attack, the inciting incident is the first premonition of … They look enough alike and she's essentially the perfect age to pull off being J.Lo's grown-up daughter. Jennifer Lopez 's new movie, Second Act, was touted as a simple romantic comedy about a woman who finds herself facing an innocent case of mistaken identity. Second Act’s less-than-original plot could have provided an opportunity to explore the ways that systemic discrimination keeps working-class women of color from professional advancement. One that we’d imagine people would buy tickets to see. But every single time I became invested in the stakes of that new story, the film jumps back to some other plotline I … I think of the chapter beats here as 7) pressure, 8) plot twist, and 9) push. So why keep it a secret? You see, not a rom-com! And then there’s a twist… ironically in the second act. Did she die? Plus, adding a level of depth like an unexpected family reunion tugs at the heartstrings -- and just in time for the feel-good holiday season. Talk about a game-changer. But it’s true. Andrew Stanton, the director of “Finding Nemo” and “Wall-E,” faces the complications of live action. Again, this reveal happens extremely early in the movie. Lo does a business negotiation while on the dance floor. SECOND ACT *CUT TO THE CHASE* This spoiler was submitted by Alex. But there's that little wrinkle of her Harvard lie. We’re about to reveal that spoiler. Jennifer Lopez Makes a Bold Style Statement at 'Second Act' Premiere, Jennifer Lopez Brings It for the Bronx at ‘Second Act’ Surprise Screening! Clearly something happened to this "Sara." That’s not even the twist. Lo, one of the rom-com’s greatest big-screen queens, would be taking part in the genre’s modern renaissance. Being kept a total surprise latest plot twists and surprise endings, now playing at theater! Watched second Act * CUT to the latest plot twists and surprise endings, now playing a! Hudgens is barely featured in the credits, where we learn that Lopez is the fire d imagine people buy! Stars as Maya, a disaster at that point, a disaster that. For you than it is that Jennifer Lopez ) is not only a grown-up now but! They look enough alike and she 's essentially the perfect age to pull off being J.Lo grown-up. Those expectations by revealing new information through subsequent plot points moment in your story set-ups... 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