Jennifer Lopez’s new flick This Is Me…Now is a fictionalized take on the singer’s love life, so it would make sense for Ben Affleck to make some sort of appearance considering he is her husband…Now. But did you expect that appearance to include a bad spray tan and a luscious wig?
Affleck is almost unrecognizable in a clip from the movie, which landed on Amazon Prime this week. He has a cameo as Rex Stone, host of the fictional political news segment The Truth Report. Stone screams at his viewers about the death of love ahead of one of Lopez’s music videos. “All we do is slap sexy graphics and theme songs on videos of people being assholes to one and other,” Affleck rants to the camera. “We have no love for each other! We have no love for ourselves!” Cue the introspective breakup track “Rebound.” Cinema is back!
Rex returns to the screen during the credits, where he has a solemn parting message: “Loving yourself means never having to say, ‘I’m lonely.’ It means ol’ Rexy can go down to the lobby bar, order the oysters and a club soda, and go to bed smiling. Even though the waitress was mean as a diabetic honey-badger. Because only you can let the love in your heart die. And you should never let it die.” Now try to take that seriously when you learn that Affleck has a horrible southern accent.
In addition to Affleck’s weirdness, the movie also stars Trevor Noah, Kim Petras, Keke Palmer, Jennifer Lewis, Sofia Vergara, Jane Fonda, and Neil deGrasse Tyson (!?) as members of the Zodiac Council. It’s a whole thing!
You can stream This Is Me…Now on Prime Video.