This movie had the potential to be fantastic with the problem of one niche... Jennifer Lopez. She was okay but for some reason didn't work up enough talent to carry this film like it should've. She was damn good in Selena so maybe she is just good at imitating. I feel like Jessica Alba would've done a better job. I feel like she would've invested more in it than Jennifer.
I don't know, it was a hard film to fill into in a way. Although badly written and directed, the film's identity was lost. Viewer's were not sure what the real issue of the film was trying to cover, the NAFTA slavering young woman or the government taking part in the rape and killing of the young woman, or was it the story of a woman realizing that there is a big issue in Mexico and fighting for what is right? Sometimes entertainment films can cover all of this, but this film is not an entertainment film. This is suppose to be an awareness film and clearly cover the real issue and not try to throw in issues and not fully explain them or back them up.
I can understand the director trying to cover the many issues that are happening across the border, but this is why you do more than one film and not many in one.
Overall, the film raised some awareness which was the true point.
I wasn't quite sure what to make of her performance at first. And she's not a terrible actress, I think she's OK, not spectacular, but she's fine. Anyway. After Lauren goes back to the US to face her editor something kind of clicks. She really convinced me in that scene, and in fairness it was quite true to her character - a career woman who had been repressing her demons and now decided to focus on just doing what was right. I thought there was an effective shift in J.Lo's performance reflecting the shift in her character's attitude.
All in all this is probably just one of those cases where bad directing makes the acting look worse than it actually is.
______________________ Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Of all the things wrong with this movie, I feel as though Jennifer Lopez was the secondary to how bad all other aspects of this film were. And she did provide a very abysmal product for this film.