If you’re curious about how Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck came to be, all you need to do is watch Gigli. If you look back at Bennifer’s relationship timeline, working on this rom-com crime film was actually where the sparks first flew for them. While Gigli may have done wonders for the recently-married couple, its director Martin Brest looks back on the critically-panned film 20 years later with a cringe and offers his brutally blunt thoughts about the film now.
Gigli is about a Los Angeles mobster who is ordered to kidnap the brother of a powerful federal prosecutor whose boss sends in a gorgeous female gangster to make sure everything goes according to plan. As you can imagine, the two begin to fall for each other. Given Gigli was far from successful, its director Martin Brest told Variety that this particular film from his filmography is one he would prefer to block from his mind. He said:
Of all the movies that I’ve worked on, I know them inside and out. I don’t even know what that movie looks like, frankly, because of the manner in which it took shape. Even the name… I refer to it as ‘the G movie.’ Probably the less said about it the better.
Given all of the media attention Gigli received before it was released due to headlines about Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck getting romantically involved during the film's production, the amount of negativity that surrounded it once it was shown in theaters was surprising. The 2003 movie is now considered one of the worst movies of all time, per GQ, and was a major bomb at the box office, grossing $7.2 million worldwide against a $75.6 million budget. It was also nominated for eleven Golden Raspberry Awards and managed to win seven, including Worst Picture. CinemaBlend also didn't have any positive reactions in their own review of Gigli either.
While Gigli may have been the start of Bennifer's relationship, it was sadly the last time Martin Brest was behind the camera. Although, as he told Variety, there was an explanation as to why the Golden Raspberry-winning movie didn’t fulfill his expectations as well as the public’s. He said:
The movie originally started very differently from what seems like the beginning now. I wonder if ever a movie had been changed that much… I’m sure it has in the history of Hollywood, but it was changed so radically. When it came to finishing that movie, I remember the composer came up with a piece of music and played it, and he looked at me for my reaction. I said, ‘I knew why this scene used to be in the movie and what its purpose was. I don’t have any idea why it’s in the movie now.’ The themes of the movie were radically different. The plot was different. The purpose of the movie was different. But I can’t escape blame. [But] it’s so weird — I literally don’t remember the movie that was released, because I wasn’t underneath it in the way I was under the hood of all my other movies. So it’s really a bloody mess that deserved its excoriation.
It’s astounding how you have one vision for a movie only for a studio to completely change it around to the point that you don’t even recognize it. The Beverly Hills Cop director continued to explain that post-production had to be on hold because of the arguments this frustrated director would have with the studio. He felt the need to choose whether to stay or go. As you know, he chose to stay. During the remainder of the production, Brest felt a true loss of creative control over his own project.
Decades later, Ben Affleck also thought about Gigli and he recalled the lesson he learned from the job. The Air director said that if his rom-com turned out to be a highly-receptive hit, he wouldn’t have considered a directing career to fall back on. Not to mention, there’s of course his lady love, JLo, who he celebrated their first wedding anniversary with a couple of days ago. Even when the “Jenny From the Block” singer looked back on Gigli, she admitted that this badly-reviewed film would be her pick for a sequel from her classic films if she had it her way. Well, anything for more Bennifer, right?
Martin Brest may not like to think about Gigli with this failed project being the last movie he ever directed, but the public will always remember this film as the start of Bennifer.
Take a look at our 2023 movie releases so you won’t miss the next time you can see Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez up on the big screen.
