“How is it possible that Jennifer Lopez looks even more gorgeous now, after having twins?” This was the question I posed to my cousin Joey, a big J. Lo fan from as early as her “I’m Real” days. Joey, mom to a five-year-old, echoed my sentiments. At 40, J. Lo is looking even better.
Life’s not always fair, right?
I was happy to see, however, that The Back-up Plan (tagline: “Fall in love. Get married. Have a baby. Not necessarily in that order.”) wasn’t any of those romantic comedies wherein the lead actress still acts like she’s in her twenties, even if she’s already a decade or so past it.
Here’s the plot: Zoe (Lopez), worried that she might miss the chance to have kids because she hasn’t found the right man yet, decides to get artificially inseminated. On her way home from the clinic, she meets Stan (Alex O’Loughlin), otherwise known as The One.
In my opinion, what makes this film work more than the other J. Lo films combined is that, 1. Lopez’s not completely deglamorized; 2. She’s not trying too hard to be “ordinary” or quirky; 3. O’Loughlin, who isn’t a big star yet, though I seriously think he’s getting there, is the perfect complement to Lopez’s stellar power. As a couple, they’re not blinding.
I watched this film over the weekend, on DVD, because it was on my ever-growing must-see list and I’d missed my chance at catching it in the theaters. Of all the J. Lo films I’ve seen, I resonated with The Back-up Plan the most because I’m nearing the stretch wherein I might also have to think of a Plan B.
When I was in my early twenties, I jokingly asked my mom if I could just get myself artificially inseminated, if I hit my late thirties without a significant other. She said no. I just have to wait.
When I hit my late twenties, and my younger sister had had her baby girl, I reminded my mom of the same question. She said yes. If, and only if, I could take care of the baby on my own.
Of course, since then I’ve come to the conclusion that that option is out of the question. Why would I deliberately seek out an incomplete family?
This was the same question that begged to be answered when I realized what Zoe had set off to do. Later on, we would pick up that she had a strong fear of being left behind. Her parents had died when she was a child; the grandmother who had reared her was growing old. Zoe wanted a kid for the most selfish of reasons: She didn’t want to be alone. And yet, strangely enough, she was doing “well” being alone—which is why she would push Stan away despite his being adamant about staying, all fears notwithstanding.
The Back-up Plan raised my penchant for asking what-if questions to a higher level. What if you thought you were going to be alone forever and then you gave up on finding that one true love, only to miss it because you just stopped trying? What if you made this decision you weren’t one hundred percent sure about, because you were afraid not to make it, only to find out later on that it was going to push the one person meant for you further away? What if? What if? What if?
Of course, the gift in The Back-up Plan is that while people make plans that fail, life has a funny way of working out if you come from love. So Zoe’s pregnant with a baby she had initially planned to raise alone and Stan’s going to step in as a dad at a time when he’s just about to make his own life work by going back to school and starting a business and everything becomes messy for sometime... until one that became clear: They are in love.
Plans fail, back-up plans don’t work out. But love always works. Always.
Better take the short cut: Plan only for love.
Hello, the marry month of June!
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