Monday Morning Quarterback Part I

By BOP Staff

April 26, 2010

I bet that grandma can throw a mean spiral.

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Jason Lee: I agree with the point that (I believe) Michael and Matthew are implying, which is that the success of a rom-com relies largely on the perceived chemistry of the two leads. Tina Fey and Steve Carell sound like a hoot. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are probably pretty funny together. With The Back-Up Plan, you have Lopez, who's been MIA for the past couple of years and a piece of generic man-candy. It's a much tougher sell.

Reagen Sulewski: Very few stars can take a number of years off and still have people be interested in their movies, which I think is what hit Lopez here. Especially if you come back with something as lame looking as this film, you turn into a "who cares?" very quickly, and Lopez was never that beloved in the first place.

David Mumpower: The height of her celebrity occurred with Jenny on the Block in 2002. Maid in Manhattan, her biggest blockbuster, was that year as well. I have never been a fan of saying that a movie is a career killer as I believe that talent will overcome a bad break here or there. If John Travolta and Nicolas Cage can keep getting work, anyone can. That’s the rule. There are occasional exceptions such as Batman & Robin destroying not one but two careers in Alicia Silverstone and Chris O’Donnell. Gigli proved to be that sort of situation for Lopez, who only struck gold once more with Monster-in-Law afterward. It gave her a lingering stink of failure perception with most consumers. Going away for a while could have helped if she had made a triumphant return in the right role. Stating the obvious, this wasn’t it and audiences couldn’t wait to turn their noses up at it.

On a sidenote, I do believe The Switch winds up +$20 million over this one’s final box office if not more.




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Where’s that Out of Sight sequel?

Kim Hollis: Do you think this is it for Jennifer Lopez as a lead actress?

Josh Spiegel: I'm racking my brain for more than one good movie she's even been in, let alone as a lead. (That lonely movie is Out of Sight, by the way.) None of her movies have ever grossed $100 million. None of them. Three movies she's been in have gotten close, but one of those was Antz, which she lent her voice to. Aside from Maid in Manhattan, there are really no huge winners here (I'd like to forget having seen Monster-in-Law, so I'm ignoring that one). She's a beautiful woman, and she's not without a certain screen presence, but the movies she makes just don't do blockbuster business.

Michael Lynderey: I never really understood why Lopez bowed out of doing big movies after Monster-In-Law. That one was easily one of her most successful titles, and yet away she went. Looking to the future, I'm not sure we'll see Lopez headlining a solo lead role in the next year or two; but teaming up with a name actor - a Hugh Grant or a Gerard Butler - or showing up as part of the ensemble in that New Year's Day movie (if they ever make it) is a lot more plausible. And of course, if those films break out, I don't think a Bullock-esque comeback is out of the question somewhere down the line.


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