Second Act

Second Act is a 2018 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Segal and written by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Justin Zackham. It stars Jennifer Lopez, Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens, Treat Williams and Milo Ventimiglia, and follows a woman in her forties who successfully pursues a second chance at a corporate career, after a friend's son creates a fake résumé and credentials for her. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise of Lopez's performance but criticism of the story and the script, and grossed over US$72 million worldwide. Plot Maya Vargas (Jennifer Lopez) is the assistant manager of the Value Shop store, where she has worked for the past 15 years. During that time she dramatically improved sales, customer relations, and general store culture through her intuitive and innovative methods. She awaits a store visit by an executive of her company, Mr. Weiskopf, anxiously hoping to be promoted to manager. Her boyfriend Trey, co-workers, and several regular customers all assure her that she is guaranteed the promotion, but she is passed up in favor of Arthur, a non-local company employee with an MBA from Duke. Mr. Weiskopf explains that while he values Maya's dedication and success, she only has a GED and no college degree, which makes her ineligible for the promotion by company policy. Her godson, a skilled computer programmer, rebuilds her background online, giving her a Harvard degree and world travel, and she is hired by one of the store's suppliers, a large cosmetics company. The CEO, Mr. Clarke, has her head a team developing a new product in competition with a team led by his daughter Zoe.