The 15 best and worst Jennifer Lopez roles

What exactly is Gigli? Homophobic, misogynistic — and that’s not even touching on Justin Bartha’s character. Factor in that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck didn’t have any chemistry—despite being a real-life couple at the time and also probably because her character was a lesbian — Gigli isn’t just as bad as all the jokes about it at the time said. It’s honestly worse. On top of all of its flaws, it’s also poorly paced, poorly written and boring. Lopez’s Ricki could be an interesting character in literally any other movie — perhaps one where her character’s sexuality isn’t constantly questioned — but is unfortunately stuck in this one.

Sure, it’s arguably just a remake of "Sleeping With the Enemy" that changed enough of the plot to be called a different movie. But J. Lo gets to kick ass because of this: saying “enough” to her abusive husband through the power of Krav Maga. That makes it a best.

It’s still a trip that Jennifer Lopez’s breakout role was in the Selena biopic, especially considering how different it would be from a lot of her future roles. Also, at a certain point she mostly stopped taking risky roles (until the upcoming "Hustlers," it seems).

The thing about these “worsts” is that, with perhaps the exception of "Gigli," Jennifer Lopez and her performance aren’t actually the problem. This is the movie where Lopez’s character gets artificially inseminated — as we’re supposed to believe a Jennifer Lopez character can’t find a man — only to meet the perfect man (Alex O'Loughlin) the same day. Hijinks ensue. On the plus side, this is one of those mediocre romcoms that fills the support cast with hilarious actors. Michaela Watkins, Melissa McCarthy, Eric Christian Olsen, Anthony Anderson, Noureen DeWulf, Jennifer Elise Cox.

I’ll be honest: The selling point in "Monster-in-Law" is really the titular monster-in-law, Jane Fonda’s Viola Field. (This was Fonda’s first onscreen role in 15 years, and critics were definitely upset that it was this one.) Fonda gives a great performance in an otherwise cliche role, and Lopez — as well as her character — really has to try to keep up. But it’s a good dynamic, and it’s another one with solid supporting cast members — especially Wanda Sykes and Adam Scott.

Only one movie can boast a cast that includes the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci and Ja Rule. Fine, Ja is credited as “Hip-Hop Bar Performer,” so it’s not like it’s a big role for him. But the point on the cast remains.

Of all these interconnected “romcoms” (usually missing out a lot in the “com” department) —"What to Expect When You’re Expecting" is unfortunately close to the bottom. In the movie, Lopez plays a woman who can’t conceive and wants her and her husband to adopt from Ethiopia. She spends the entire movie realizing her husband isn’t ready to be a father, and yet they still end up adopting in the end. Yay? (Lopez is easily one of the best parts of the movie though, so if you’re going to watch, know that.)

To this day, "Out of Sight" is Jennifer Lopez’s most critically acclaimed film and role. Directed by Steven Soderbergh — and based off the Elmore Leonard novel of the same name — Lopez stars alongside George Clooney (in his first collaboration with Soderbergh) as U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco and career bank robber Jack Foley, respectively. Sisco and Foley are in a game of cat-and-mouse that’s not actually a game of cat-and-mouse, and… well, there’s a reason this is Jennifer Lopez’s most critically acclaimed film and role. It’s basically the opposite of "Gigli."

Jennifer Lopez. Ice Cube. Owen Wilson. Danny Trejo. Eric Stoltz. A big ol’ snake. Some people will try to tell you that "Anaconda" is “bad” or that it has a thin “plot” or that it was “forgettable.” Again, I say: a big ol’ snake.

Technically, this isn’t a bad Jennifer Lopez “role” — the movie itself is bad, but Lopez is perfectly fine. (Also, Bill Cosby’s in this.) In case you missed it (or buried it in your brain), "Jack" is the 1996 film in which Robin Williams stars as the titular Jack, a boy who has a disease that ages him four times faster than the normal rate — meaning, the 45-year-old Williams played a 10-year-old. And Lopez was cast as his first crush and teacher, Miss Marquez. This movie was directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

"The Boy Next Door" is a classic — as classic as a first edition copy of the "Iliad." Don’t let anyone ever tell you any differently.

Did you know that the story for "Maid in Manhattan" was written by John Hughes? He’s credited under the pseudonym Edmond Dantès — yes, the protagonist of "The Count of Monte Cristo" — which was apparently how he avoided being linked to weaker projects (for example, Drillbit Taylor and Beethoven, where his pseudonym was subsequently credited in the movie’s sequels). But this is actually considered one of the most iconic J. Lo romcoms, a riff on the Cinderella story.

This definitely isn’t on Jennifer Lopez. It’s actually on the movie (a poor attempt to recreate Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson’s "White Men Can’t Jump" chemistry) and, more specifically, the unnecessary sex scene in the movie that Lopez has gone on the record as calling a “horrible” experience that she should’ve “put up more of a fight” against. (It was with Snipes. He does not come across well at all in this full story.)

Well, this is the Jennifer Lopez romcom, now isn’t it? For some reason, the idea of Lopez not finding love works much better here than in "The Back-up Plan." Maybe it’s because of the lack of artificial insemination. Or maybe it’s because of the actual chemistry between Lopez and Matthew McConaughey. Yeah, going to go with that one. (And because it’s also a classic romcom with Judy Greer in the best friend role. They don’t make ‘em like they used to.)

This is one of those trippy movies where it’s really up for interpretation if it’s a “best” or “worst,” as a Tarsem Singh movie (meaning it’s arguably a lot more about style than substance). But Roger Ebert gave it four (out of four) stars and even placed it on his Best 10 Movies of 2000 list. In the movie, Lopez’s Catherine Deane is enlisted by an FBI agent (Vince Vaughn) to use an experimental virtual reality treatment to enter the mind of a comatose serial killer (Vincent D’Onofrio) to get answers to help find his latest victim before it’s too late. No, what happens inside the mind is the trippy part.