Best Jennifer Lopez Movies: ‘Selena,’ ”This Is Me… Now’

‘Money Train’ (1995)

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Money Train didn’t rock the socks off of the box office, but we have to remember that Lopez was two years out of her time as a Fly Girl on In Living Color. Suddenly, she’s starring in a big-budget film with two major 1990s movie stars: Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. 

That Lopez sass is fully realized on-screen and playing a New York City transit cop was the perfect role for her — she was able to bring a little bit of her hometown flavor to the script. 

‘Jack’ (1996)

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Let’s be honest, the premise of this film is ridiculous as Robin Williams plays a 10-year-old suffering from a disease that makes him look like an older man — and it’s a comedy. OK, now that we have that out of the way, JLo holds her own against the comedic genius as Jack’s teacher in the film while also working under the direction of the legendary Francis Ford Coppola.

‘Blood and Wine’ (1997)

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From Robin Williams to Jack Nicholson — that’s basically how Lopez’s film career began. Not a bad start at all. Lopez told Vanity Fair that the only actor who has ever intimidated her on-set was Nicholson, but you wouldn’t know it from her performance. And if you ask us, she steals the film Blood and Wine from the Oscar winner and on-screen love interest, Stephen Dorff. 

‘Selena’ (1997)

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Quite possibly the best movie JLo has ever done because she is Selena Quintanilla up on that screen. She embodied the role in a way that made us feel the heartbreak of the loss of the Tejano singer — and as a result, 1997 became the biggest breakout year for the actress. 

After spending some time with the late musician’s family in Corpus Christi, Texas before filming, Lopez understood the significance of the role for Selena — not only for Quintanilla’s loved ones, but for her Latino community. 

“It was about portraying her as best I could, to where people weren’t thinking of anybody but her when they were watching,” Lopez told Billboard. “You have to think of the whole story and how you fit into that story and at the same time, who is that character, what makes them tick, all the way down to their mannerisms and what drove them emotionally.”

‘Anaconda’ (1997)

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Anaconda is the type of film we would now see on the SyFy channel with random nostalgic stars from the 1990s, and that’s exactly why this adventure horror film is worth watching. We will never see the likes of Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Eric Stoltz and Owen Wilson sharing the screen together with Lopez again. But we also have to remember that the mechanical anaconda used on-set almost killed her when it malfunctioned — so this might be a film she’d rather forget.

‘U-Turn’ (1997)

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If you start to notice, 1997 was a major year for Lopez beyond Selena. Not only was she working with Sean Penn, but she was directed by Oscar winner, Oliver Stone. This crime drama U-Turn didn’t resonate much at the box office, but it also delivered the most frank interview Lopez probably has ever done in her carreer (and the likes of which we will never see again). 

“I have the upper hand here because I don’t care about this movie. I’ve got Selena and I’m getting a million dollars for it,” she told Movieline. 

‘Out of Sight’ (1998)

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Don’t ever forget 1998’s Out of Sight because we had a fresh-to-the-movie-biz Lopez and a TV star in George Clooney (he was still on ER when he made this film). The role was almost given to Sandra Bullock, according to EW, which would have made this an entirely different movie. It’s a classic, sexy cat-and-mouse caper with Lopez playing a U.S. Marshal and Clooney taking on the role of a veteran bank robber. Many people haven’t ventured into watching this JLo film, but it’s one of the highlights of her career.

‘The Cell’ (2000)

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The Cell has become a cult classic, even though it didn’t do well in movie theaters when it was released in 2000. It’s definitely on the experimental side of sci-fi filmmaking, but we love that Lopez took this risk so early on in her career — and we would love to see her do it again. It’s a film that she called “one of the most exciting experiences” in her acting career in a clip she shared on her YouTube page, “from the storyline to the incredible sets and costumes, everything about this movie echoed a limitless mentality.”

‘The Wedding Planner’ (2001)

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We’ve lost count of how many times we watched The Wedding Planner on a rainy Sunday afternoon on cable. The meet-cute situation between Matthew McConaughey rescuing Lopez from an accident involving a high-heeled shoe, a sewer grate, a dumpster and a taxi cab has all of the makings of a classic rom-com. Add in the delightful sidekick moments of Judy Greer, who is a MUST in any romantic comedy, and then you know why we watch this 2001 film over and over again.

‘Enough’ (2002)

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This thriller Enough will have you jumping out of your seat as Lopez takes on the challenging role as a domestic abuse survivor, who decides to flip the script on her creepy husband, played by Billy Campbell. And yes, this was another movie that was originally supposed to star Sandra Bullock, but we love JLo’s interpretation of the character’s story.

“It’s about empowering yourself in any situation,” she told ABC News. “When I read the script, I saw it as, you have the power within yourself, no matter how severe the situation can be, to change whatever that is, to find that power within yourself to change any negative situation.”

‘Maid in Manhattan’ (2002)

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Under a 2021 lens, Maid in Manhattan‘s storyline of a stereotypical Latina hotel housekeeper falling in love with a rich, white political candidate, who is going to save her, isn’t the best Hollywood can do. But if we take a closer look at the charming performances by Lopez and Ralph Fiennes, the villainous society woman, played by the late Nastasha Richardson, and the campy appearance by everyone’s favorite zaddy Stanley Tucci — there is some merit to the movie even today. 

‘Gigli’ (2003)

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Um, probably the worst movie Lopez has ever done in her career, but we don’t care because it brought us Bennifer — not just once, but twice. This widely-panned movie is about a mobster and a lesbian, who fall in love, and by the way, it’s a comedy. Oh, forget it, the plotline of Gigli is dumb, but the duo has great chemistry and without this terrible movie, we wouldn’t have had the pink diamond, the Affleck red carpet spray tans and the epic “Jenny from the Block” video.

‘Shall We Dance?’ (2004)

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This movie Shall We Dance took Lopez back to her dance roots — and she got to star opposite Richard Gere. Her film career was firmly cemented by this time as Hollywood took notice of her talent (yes, even after the box office failure of Gigli). 

And she loved her hot dance scenes with Gere, even if they didn’t rehearse together until they got on-set, which is really hard to believe when you see them tango together. “I’m sure I wasn’t as professional as his partner and he wasn’t as professional as my partner, but we both somehow pulled it together,” she told MovieWeb. “It was about what was happening to the characters in the scene more than anything else. I think it came off as sexy.”

‘Monster-In-Law’ (2005)

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Lopez was blazing through the rom-com stage of her career, but who could blame her when she’s offered a role opposite the legendary Jane Fonda in Monster-In-Law? Even though this isn’t either actress’ best film, the physical comedy is pretty outstanding. 

Fonda praised Lopez’s work in their infamous cake-smashing scene to E! News, “She really knows how to choreograph things and use her body in a way that makes it look like it’s dangerous without really being, and I learned a lot from her.”

‘El Cantante’ (2006)

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Marc Anthony and Lopez don’t get enough credit for making this biographical film about salsa singer Héctor Lavoe and his wife, Puchi. The tragic, real-life story involves drug addiction, AIDS and depression and the duo masterfully handled telling the tale. It reminds you of what a strong dramatic actress Lopez, and how well she tackled such a dark role in El Cantante.

‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’ (2012)

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This movie What to Expect When You’re Expecting perfectly paralleled the life she was living at the time as a mom of twins and married to third husband Marc Anthony. You know exactly what you are getting with this movie — an ensemble romantic comedy based off the wildly popular mom-to-be book. It may not be her most exciting role to date, but we always love JLo as the America’s Sweetheart character. 

‘Ice Age’ (2012, 2016)

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Jennifer Lopez might not be on-screen for the Ice Age animated franchise, but voicing Shira made her a lot cooler in her own home. While twins Max and Emme were too young to enjoy Ice Age: Continental Drift when it first came out in 2012, they sure understood the magnitude of what their mom does for a living by the time Ice Age: Collision Course came out in 2016. 

“The kids love it,” Lopez told E! News. “You know, it’s something we can watch together that I’m in. They’re like, ‘Oh! That’s what you do when you go away from us and go work.’”

We love a good family-friendly film from JLo.

‘Second Act’ (2018)

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Along with being the Queen of romantic comedies, JLo is also the Queen of portraying women who always get what they want (and work darn hard for!) In Second Act, she portrays a woman maned Maya, who reinvents her life by fabricating her background to get to the top.

‘Hustlers’ (2019)

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It’s still hard to believe that JLo didn’t get an Oscar nomination for Huslters— we know it’s on her list of career goals. Lopez feels the same way telling Allure that “it was a sting” when she wasn’t nominated.

That shouldn’t stop you from watching her tour de force performance as a Ramona Vega, the veteran stripper who finds a good scam to make money off of rich clients during the 2007-2008 financial crisis. And let’s be honest, Lopez’s unbelievable pole work should have gotten her the nomination alone.

‘Marry Me’ (2022)

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Everyone was losing it when word broke that JLo would be starring in her first romantic comedy in years. Marry Me followed a pop star who was supposed to get married on stage to her superstar boyfriend, but once she finds out he cheated, she throws caution to the wind and marries a fan. 

‘The Mother’ (2023)

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The 2023 Netflix film The Mother is a thriller starring Jennifer Lopez that follows an assassin who comes out of hiding to protect the daughter she left behind.

‘This Is Me… Now’ (2024)

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This Is Me… Now is the fantasy musical accompanied by Jennifer Lopez’s ninth studio album, which is all about her journey to love through her own lens.

‘Office Romance’ (2026)

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Jennifer Lopez returned to romcoms alongside Brett Goldstein for the film Office Romance! The film follows the President and CEO of Air Cruz, who runs a rigid anti-fraternization policy for all her employees, ends up falling for a sexy new lawyer.