In ‘Enough,’ No Victimhood for Lopez

“Everyone has a limit.” “Self-defense isn’t murder.” “Love is a scary thing.”

These are some of the advertising come-ons Sony Pictures Entertainment is using to entice moviegoers to see the new Jennifer Lopez thriller “Enough,” in which an ordinary woman turns the tables on her predatory husband. The film opens Friday.

Like Ashley Judd in “Double Jeopardy” and Julia Roberts in “Sleeping With the Enemy,” Lopez is mining a genre that seems to have strong appeal for female audiences: victimized women getting revenge against their abusive mates.

In the movie, directed by Michael Apted (“The World Is Not Enough”) from an original screenplay by Nicholas Kazan (“Reversal of Fortune”), Lopez stars as a hard-working woman who thought she met Mr. Right--a charming, wealthy contractor played by Billy Campbell--only to discover that he has a controlling and dark alter ego. When she tries to escape the marriage, he pursues her, until she has had enough of fear and running.

“Instead of playing the poor victim, she retaliates,” said Paul Dergarabedian, who heads the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. “I think female moviegoers appreciate that type of movie. Women are tired of being victimized in movies.”

Though Lopez has forged a successful dual career as singer and actress, she has yet to wield the box-office clout of say, Roberts, Drew Barrymore or even Jodie Foster. J.Lo’s last film, “Angel Eyes,” was a flop, grossing only $24 million, but prior to that she had two sizable hits in “The Wedding Planner” ($60.4 million) and “The Cell” ($61.3 million).