Second Act

Second Act centers on Maya, a longtime assistant manager at a big-box store in Queens who has spent years doing the work of a manager without the title. When a promotion she expects for her forty-third birthday goes to a college-educated applicant instead, she leaves her job, and a revised résumé and polished online profile arranged without her knowledge by her best friend's son land her an interview at a Manhattan cosmetics company. Hired as a marketing consultant, she has to prove that practical experience and a feel for customers count for as much as a degree, while keeping her invented background from unraveling.

Peter Segal directed the film, the tenth of twelve features in his directing career, following Grudge Match and preceding My Spy. Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Justin Zackham wrote the screenplay, and both produced alongside Jennifer Lopez, who stars as Maya. The cast also includes Vanessa Hudgens, Leah Remini, Milo Ventimiglia, Treat Williams and Charlyne Yi.

Released in November 2018, the film had a modest budget of 16 million US dollars and took about 72 million worldwide, a strong return on its cost. On IMDb the rating sits at 5.8 from roughly 32,000 votes, while on TMDB it is 6.3 from a much smaller group of 1,268 votes. A critics' rating of 5.1 from 117 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores. The production involved 33 credited cast members and 126 credited crew.