Move to the 'Right'
Can Jennifer Lopez go from excess back to success?

By Cheryl Eddy


photo by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot
IT SEEMS JENNIFER Lopez will never give up her death grip on the spotlight, even when her Glow by JLO shimmer is tarnished by so-so endeavors (Shall We Dance), cinematic neutron bombs (Gigli), and media overexposure even Paris Hilton could never hope to achieve. Lopez's many careers continue to assault the senses, but she has managed to put some limits on how much we know about her private life, settling into a relatively quiet partnership with vocalist Marc Anthony – the couple's awkwardly glossy Grammy-night duet notwithstanding. Anthony is technically her third hubby, but he might as well be her fifth, since her high-profile relationships with former flames Ben Affleck and P. Diddy lasted about as long as her first two marriages did. With no ostentatious shows of affection or strife to report, Star and Us Weekly have moved on to Affleck's latest shot at Bennifer-dom (Jennifer Garner: still waiting for her own supersized pink diamond at press time), as well as crisis-counseling yet another famous Jennifer (Aniston) with the breakup blues.

Lopez, on the other hand, recently enjoyed a long-awaited residence on the January cover of Vogue, is readying for the early-March release of her latest CD, Rebirth (Epic), and continues to roll out ungodly amounts of beauty products, clothing, and accessories (be the first on your block to flash the JLO by Jennifer Lopez gold-toned "Women's Glitz Bracelet Watch" – a steal at $195!). What's more, she actually has a promising-sounding film project, Monster-in-Law, featuring Jane Fonda's first big-screen appearance in 15 years, due this spring. And, if you overlook the name of her clothing line, she's not answering to J.Lo anymore – Jennifer'll do, if "the $255 Million Woman" (per Fortune magazine's list of the 40 richest Americans under age 40) proves too much of a mouthful.

If her latest creative endeavors take off (meaning the album and the movie; her other products, faux fur-adorned though they may be, are well ensconced in their profitable niche), Lopez could have the credibility comeback of 2005. She's hardly a Madonna-esque queen of reinvention; Lopez's image has pretty steadfastly been that of a glamorous Latina goddess, with various other facets (her alleged diva-ness, Bronx-bred Fly Girl past, men of the hour, bodacious booty, etc.) highlighted as needed.

Pre-superstardom, Lopez first earned notice in 1997's Selena, the biopic of the late Tejana vocalist that combined Lopez's own twin ambitions in entertainment. Tune into MTV and the frequency with which her videos appear suggests that her music career has the popular vote, even if critics (and many casual observers) argue she's an overproduced studio creation. Lopez told VH1 she hopes to embark on her first-ever tour to support Rebirth, but that seems a tentative plan at best. Lopez's current single, "Get Right," is most memorable for its hook, a squealing horn that slides from jazzy to grating as the song progresses. Per usual for Lopez, the visual element is key: the video is set in a place Affleck hopes he never stumbles into, a club whose various characters – the waitress, the go-go dancer, the DJ, the nerdy girl in the corner – are all portrayed by Lopez.

Lopez seems to recognize her limitations as a vocalist; she rarely performs live, and her songs tend toward the dance-pop-with-heavily-layered-backing-tracks ("If You Had My Love") and duet-with-guest-rapper varieties ("Ain't It Funny," with Ja Rule). As a lyricist, she draws inspiration from three topics: love ("Love Don't Cost a Thing," "Baby I Love U"); boogie fever ("Waiting for Tonight," "Play"); and, inevitably, herself ("Jenny from the Block," "I'm Real"). Lopez's videos make equally good use of A-list resources (employing top stylists, choreographers, etc.), her dance background, and her celeb-curio status (exploited to the hilt in the "Jenny from the Block" clip, which features her then-squeeze Affleck; a recent easy-to-believe rumor insisted that Lopez asked MTV and VH1 to remove it from their playlists as a result).

But glossy videos, even ones that perfectly ape Flashdance ("I'm Glad"), do not an acting career make. Lopez, touted as the biggest Latina movie star since Rita Hayworth, started off strong. Post-Selena, she tussled with style in 1998's Out of Sight and lured crowds with the 2001 fluffy romance The Wedding Planner. Her big-screen sparkle faded (Angel Eyes, Enough, Maid in Manhattan), then turned into a punch line (besides Gigli, her role in Jersey Girl was trimmed amid post-Bennifer fallout). Shall We Dance escaped the savaging bestowed on Gigli, but the 2004 flick ended up garnering less publicity for Lopez than did her hush-hush hitching to Anthony (captured, in all its fuzzy glory, by some lucky paparazzo's telephoto lens).

Though the overhaul of her high-maintenance, Fabulous Life Of persona seems to be a successful work in progress – and her music and entrepreneurial ventures, including a parade of ruffly creations at this year's New York Fashion Week, are clicking along – Lopez's professional "rebirth" will be most tested by Monster-in-Law. It could work: Monster is a romantic comedy directed by Legally Blonde's Robert Luketic; its plot, about an unlucky-in-love gal (Lopez) who finally meets Mr. Right (Michael Vartan from Alias), only to be menaced at every turn by his scary mama (Jane Fonda), is a spin on the same premise that raked in gazillions for Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers. A respectable box-office showing would go a long way toward reestablishing her in the showbiz field she originally aimed to conquer – and it would sure help rub the stink of Gigli off her résumé.