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From box office disasters to timeless romantic classics, J.Lo has done it all! Join us as we count down our picks for Jennifer Lopez's most romantic cinematic outings, ranking them from the least memorable to the very best. Which J.Lo rom-com holds a special place in your heart? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00Eddie, Eddie, come here. I want you to meet the wedding planner.
00:05The two most important people in my life set eyes on one another.
00:08Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:10And today, we're counting down our picks for J.Lo's most romantic cinematic outings,
00:14ranking them from the least memorable to the very best.
00:17Look, I know I didn't make a great first impression, but to be fair, you do glow and those are
00:22amazing shoes.
00:23Number 12, Gigli.
00:25It's turkey time.
00:28Huh?
00:31Gobble, gobble.
00:33Released in 2003 at the peak of the Benefermania,
00:36this film was supposed to be a star-making moment for one of Hollywood's hottest couples.
00:41Instead, it became one of the most infamous box office disasters in cinema history,
00:46grossing just over $7 million against a $75.6 million budget.
00:51Ben Affleck plays a bumbling mobster, J.Lo plays a hired gun sent to babysit him,
00:57and somewhere in the chaos, the two are supposed to fall in love.
01:00You don't tell me what to do, okay?
01:03Don't tell me what we might do.
01:04Don't tell me what we're supposed to do.
01:06Don't tell me what we maybe should do.
01:08Don't ever tell me nothing.
01:09Alas, the chemistry that made tabloids explode somehow evaporated entirely on screen.
01:15Critics absolutely eviscerated it, and it swept the Razzie Awards the following year.
01:20You know what, creating a scene right now would be a bad thing.
01:25Yeah, that's right.
01:26Number 11, The Backup Plan.
01:29This film had all the ingredients of a breezy, feel-good rom-com,
01:32and somehow still managed to fumble the recipe.
01:35Okay, so you have a boyfriend or something?
01:36Just tell me, I can take it.
01:37No.
01:38Or you just know you're not interested in me?
01:40You're making a big mistake.
01:41I'm very interesting.
01:42Lopez stars as Zoe, a woman who gets artificially inseminated
01:46and then meets the man of her dreams on the same day.
01:49Alex O'Loughlin plays her love interest, Stan,
01:52and while he's charming enough,
01:54the two never quite generate the kind of electric spark the story desperately needs.
01:58You're kind of hard to read right now.
02:03Well, I really want to kiss you,
02:07but it smells like cheese in here.
02:12The film leans heavily on broad physical comedy and sitcom-style misunderstandings,
02:17which might have worked in a different era,
02:19but felt oddly dated even for 2010.
02:22Even though Lopez herself is likable throughout,
02:25and the film isn't unwatchable by any means,
02:27it's simply not memorable.
02:29You're fine. Forget it. I'll get out.
02:31But not because you're right,
02:32but because I'm in a terrific mood and you're ruining it.
02:35Number 10, What to Expect When You're Expecting.
02:38Can you feel it?
02:40We're gonna be a family.
02:43Oh yeah. Real soon.
02:45This 2012 ensemble comedy borrowed its title from Heidi Murkoff's iconic parenting guidebook
02:51and assembled a staggering cast,
02:53including Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston,
02:56Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick,
02:58and of course, our queen J-Lo.
03:00Lopez plays Holly,
03:02a woman navigating the emotional rollercoaster of international adoption,
03:06alongside her husband Alex,
03:07played by Rodrigo Santoro.
03:09You know, I know you've been so worried about saving in the house.
03:12In this together, here I am, trying to get ready for something that's gonna be...
03:16Oh my god.
03:17What?
03:17I knew it.
03:18You're not even ready?
03:20Her storyline is genuinely one of the film's more emotionally grounded threads,
03:24bringing a tenderness that contrasts nicely with the broader comedic chaos happening elsewhere in the movie.
03:29The problem is that with so many storylines competing for screen time,
03:33no single arc gets enough room to breathe or fully develop.
03:37Still, Lopez brings warmth and authenticity to her role,
03:40and her scenes are consistently among the film's most affecting.
03:44I could work with that.
03:45Right?
03:46Mm-hmm.
03:46Yeah, that sounds good.
03:48So does that mean you like us?
03:51I don't see any red flags.
03:53Number 9.
03:54Second Act
03:55In this feel-good crowd-pleaser, J-Lo plays Maya,
03:58a big-box store employee who gets a shot at her dream career,
04:02after a fake resume lands her a high-powered gig.
04:04I couldn't agree more.
04:05I mean, the market's only getting more competitive.
04:07And consumers only getting smarter.
04:09Oh, yes, they are.
04:10The fish-out-of-water premise is well-worn territory,
04:13but Lopez commits to it so fully that she elevates the material considerably.
04:17Her chemistry with co-star Milo Ventimiglia keeps the romance simmering nicely,
04:21and Leah Remini is hilarious as her best friend Joan.
04:25However, Second Act stumbles in its third act, which pivots into melodrama.
04:30You act like you don't have a choice.
04:32I don't.
04:36Well, you know, it's sad that she's not gonna meet the oh-my.
04:44Because she was pretty amazing.
04:46The tonal whiplash is jarring,
04:48and it undercuts the easy confidence the film had been building.
04:51Still, as a vehicle for Lopez's considerable charisma,
04:54it delivers more than you might expect walking in.
04:57I realize something at the party.
05:00Even out of the biggest disaster, there can still be hope.
05:02Number 8.
05:03Jersey Girl.
05:04Just relax, breathe.
05:05Remember, take it easy.
05:06I love you.
05:07I'll be right there, okay?
05:08I love you.
05:08I love you, too.
05:09Okay, I love you.
05:10I love you.
05:10We practiced this a thousand times.
05:12It'd be great.
05:13How hard can it be?
05:14Kevin Smith directed this 2004 dramedy,
05:17casting Ben Affleck as a widowed father raising his daughter in New Jersey.
05:21Lopez appears in the film's opening act as his wife, Gertrude,
05:25before her character dies in childbirth.
05:27We think Gertie had an aneurysm.
05:32Is she okay?
05:36We lost her, Ollie.
05:38Yes, technically J-Lo's screen time is limited,
05:41but her presence casts a long emotional shadow over everything that follows,
05:45and the film's romantic subplot with Liv Tyler's Maya Harding qualifies it for our list.
05:50Unfortunately, critics were so primed to dismiss anything associated with Affleck and Lopez in that era,
05:56but many barely gave it a fair hearing.
05:59Revisiting it today, there's a genuine sweetness and emotional honesty here
06:03that makes you wish audiences had given it more of a chance.
06:06I was only gonna sleep with him a few more times and then dump him,
06:09but now, after an offer like that...
06:11Number 7.
06:12Shotgun Wedding.
06:13Tom, you promised you wouldn't leave my side this weekend.
06:17Buckle up, because this one is a wild ride.
06:20Quite literally.
06:21The 2022 action comedy pairs Lopez with Josh Duhamel
06:25as a couple whose destination wedding is spectacularly derailed
06:29when their families are taken hostage.
06:32We need to get off of the child.
06:34Huh?
06:34It might help that I got this grenade for us.
06:37I mean, he was trying to blow us up, but I got it.
06:40I got it.
06:40Another point for Darcy.
06:41What sounds like an absurd premise is executed with a gleeful, self-aware energy
06:46that makes it far more entertaining than it has any right to be.
06:51Lopez gets to play action hero and rom-com lead simultaneously.
06:55Mining genuine comedic chemistry with Duhamel.
06:57Think of it as a spiritual successor to the 90s action comedy era.
07:01Filtered through a modern J.Lo lens and turned up to 11.
07:05What?
07:06A dress is growing on me.
07:12Thanks.
07:14I wanted something less traditional.
07:16Number 6.
07:17Monster-in-law.
07:18Hey, do you think your mother liked me?
07:21Of course.
07:21Why?
07:23I don't know, because she called me a pregnant lesbian.
07:28I'm sure she meant that as a compliment.
07:30Trust me, she loves you.
07:31This film essentially functions as a feature-length battle of wills
07:34between Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda.
07:37Lopez plays Charlie, a free-spirited woman who falls for a doctor played by Michael Varton,
07:41only to find herself locked in increasingly absurd warfare with his overbearing mother,
07:46played by Fonda, in absolutely delicious form.
07:49Oh, I'm so happy for you.
07:51Oh!
07:52Congratulations.
07:53Oh my god, I can't believe this.
07:54I'm so happy for you.
07:55Ladies and gentlemen, I'm so pleased that you're going to be my daughter.
08:01Oh, yeah.
08:03Oh, congratulations.
08:05Fonda is the secret weapon of this entire film.
08:08She chews scenery with the precision of a seasoned theater veteran
08:12and makes every single one of her scenes an event.
08:15Lopez, to her credit, holds her ground beautifully,
08:18and the escalating counter moves between the two leads
08:20generate some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments.
08:23Wanda Sykes also deserves a special mention for being a scene-stealer
08:26as Fonda's sardonic assistant Ruby.
08:29It's pure, unashamed fun.
08:31Come on, weather girl.
08:32I'll buy you a box of wine.
08:42Sometimes a premise sounds so ridiculous
08:44that it loops all the way back around to being charming.
08:47Marry Me is precisely that kind of movie.
08:50You know, they say if you want something different,
08:51you have to do something different.
08:55So this time, for the first time,
09:00you make a different choice.
09:02Lopez plays Kate Valdez, a global pop superstar who,
09:06after discovering moments before a concert
09:08that her fiancé has been cheating on her,
09:10spontaneously marries a random man in the crowd
09:13holding a Marry Me sign.
09:14That man happens to be Owen Wilson's Charlie,
09:17a divorced math teacher who goes along with the whole spectacle
09:20in a moment of pure bewilderment.
09:34What follows is a genuinely sweet,
09:36surprisingly grounded love story
09:38about two people from completely different worlds
09:40trying to figure out if something real can grow
09:43from the most artificial of circumstances.
09:45It should not work.
09:46And yet, it completely does.
09:49This is smart.
09:52I think we left smart six weeks ago.
10:00Number 4. Office Romance
10:02You're very, um, impressive.
10:10You glow.
10:15You...wow.
10:16Even the most terrifying CEO in the building
10:18isn't immune to falling in love.
10:20In Office Romance, Lopez plays Jackie Cruz,
10:24a perfectionist airline boss who falls hard for Daniel,
10:27the company's ambitious new lawyer,
10:29played by Brett Goldstein of Ted Lasso fame.
10:31Come on, don't tell me in a while,
10:33you will never dance.
10:34I am trying my best to do the right thing.
10:37We're just dancing.
10:39We're gonna dance the night away.
10:42Directed by Ol' Parker and co-written by Goldstein,
10:46it's a breezily watchable film carried effortlessly by two exceptional leads
10:50with genuine, unexpected spark.
10:52It plays things a little safe, which is the only reason it's not higher.
10:56But as a fun, feel-good Netflix watch, it absolutely delivers.
11:00I must have done something pretty incredible in my last life to end up here with you.
11:05Like, I must have been Gandhi or something.
11:11I do worry, that means I have to come back as a worm in my next life just to balance
11:15things out.
11:16Number 3. Shall We Dance
11:29There's something almost magical about watching Jennifer Lopez dance with Richard Gere,
11:33and this 2004 romantic drama leans into that magic with an elegance
11:37that sets it apart from the broader comedy of many of her other films.
11:41Lopez plays Paulina, a ballroom dancing instructor
11:43who becomes the unlikely source of inspiration for Gere's disillusioned lawyer, John.
11:48What made you want to dance?
11:51You?
11:55Looking out that window right up there.
11:59You can see it from the train.
12:03Every night, I'd come home from work and I'd look for you.
12:08Lopez is luminous in the role.
12:10Poised, graceful, and quietly commanding in every single scene she inhabits.
12:15Paulina doesn't share a conventional romance with John,
12:18which might disappoint some viewers expecting a more traditional payoff.
12:22But that restraint is actually what makes the film so beautifully affecting.
12:26It's a rich, contemplative film, and absolutely one of Lopez's finest hours on screen.
12:31Good place, Paulina.
12:32Hi, nice to meet you.
12:33Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.
12:35Number 2. Made in Manhattan
12:37Few films in Lopez's filmography feel as effortlessly confident as this modern fairy tale.
12:43Thank you for being here.
12:48Well, I only came to tell you that this,
12:51you and me can't go anywhere beyond this evening.
12:54I just can't.
12:57Well, then you should have worn a different dress.
13:00She plays Marissa Ventura, a maid and single mother working in a Manhattan hotel.
13:05She catches the eye of a senatorial candidate played by a supremely charming Ray Fiennes,
13:10after he mistakes her for a wealthy guest.
13:12Weren't you just saying what a beautiful day it was?
13:15Oh, you're going out?
13:16Weren't you saying how you wanted to stretch your legs?
13:19Yeah.
13:19Well, if your husband wouldn't mind.
13:21She doesn't have a husband.
13:24I don't have a husband.
13:25Well, I insist then.
13:27Come with us if you're free.
13:28The Cinderella framework gives the film a storybook warmth,
13:31but what really elevates it is Lopez's deeply grounded, thoroughly believable performance.
13:36She makes Marissa feel like a real woman with real stakes rather than a fairy tale prop.
13:41Fiennes, in a rare rom-com outing, proves unexpectedly wonderful in the genre,
13:46bringing genuine levity to a role that could have been one-dimensional.
13:50It's a stone-cold classic.
13:52Was any of it real?
13:57Yeah, it was real.
14:00It was so real.
14:01It made me wonder how I was ever going to give you up.
14:03Number 1.
14:04The Wedding Planner
14:05Steve, how do you do?
14:06Nice to meet you.
14:07Nice to meet you.
14:08By the time you had a date.
14:09It's not a...
14:10Steve, what line of business are you in?
14:11Bert!
14:12I'm a doctor over at St. Vincent.
14:14Oh, you're a doctor?
14:14He's a doctor.
14:15Released in 2001,
14:17this film arrived at the precise moment when Lopez was transitioning from music megastar to genuine movie star,
14:23and the film treats her with all the cinematic reverence that transition deserved.
14:27She plays Mary Fiore, a meticulous wedding planner who commits the cardinal sin of falling for the groom-to-be,
14:33played by a spectacularly handsome Matthew McConaughey at the peak of his rom-com powers.
14:38It was a dance.
14:40What'd he do?
14:41It didn't mean anything.
14:43Then why'd you almost kiss me?
14:46The chemistry between the two leads is nothing short of electric.
14:50Every glance, every awkward encounter, every stolen moment fizzes with a romantic tension that still holds up decades later.
14:58Charming, timeless, and impossibly romantic,
15:01the wedding planner is J-Lo at her absolute best.
15:04What does Steve want?
15:07I want to dance
15:12with you.
15:14Is your favorite Jennifer Lopez rom-com higher or lower than you expected?
15:18Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
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