Movies

J Lo's 100%-Rated Prime Video Hit Makes Up for 20-Year-Old Romcom Flop

J Lo's 100%-Rated Prime Video Hit Makes Up for 20-Year-Old Romcom Flop
Image credit: Legion-Media

And look how the tables have turned.

Today, it's hard to imagine anyone who hasn't followed the love story of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck over the years. Every relationship is a journey, and it just so happens that their journey has been documented not only in media reports and paparazzi photos, but in an entire documentary.

Now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, The Greatest Love Story Never Told gives viewers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the celebrity couple's love story and all the ups and downs they had to go through to finally find happiness.

With a film that scored 100% from critics and 92% from audiences, it's almost impossible to remember the times when the duo was bashed for their lack of on-screen chemistry. But two decades ago, their film Gigli became one of the most expensive box office bombs in history.

Is Gigli Worth Watching?

If you think of all the bad chiches of 2000s romantic comedies, you can probably find them all in Gigli. The story of a bumbling mobster, Gigli lacked consistency and entertainment value, but had a seemingly large budget for such a production.

After spending $75 million of the film's budget, the comedy barely made back $7 million at the box office, becoming one of the biggest flops in the history of cinema.

What's worse, Gigli swept almost every nomination it received for its respective Golden Raspberry and Stinker Bad Movie Awards. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez were named Worst Screen Couple, and Gigli was named Worst "Comedy" of the First 25 Years at the 2005 Golden Raspberry anniversary ceremony.

With a critics' score of 6% and an audience score of 13% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has been torn to shreds and remains one of the worst romantic comedies of all time. However, one criticism has not aged well: too many people pointed out the lack of chemistry between the leads.

“Now we can see why the Jennifer Lopez-Ben Affleck marriage was called off. It was on grounds of unreasonable cruelty to audiences,” Daily Mail’s review read.

20 years later, it's fun to look back on such reviews, but they must have affected the stars at the time. Fortunately, everyone is in a much better place now, and Gigli can stand as a reminder that even the most intense chemistry can somehow not translate well on camera.

If you're mentally prepared to watch a movie that's so ridiculously bad that it might actually be good for a movie night with friends or as a silly guilty pleasure treat, you can rent or buy Gigli on Apple TV, Vudu, or Amazon Prime Video.

Source: Daily Mail