JLo has style but no sting in ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’

THOUGH she plays its vampy femme fatale, Jennifer Lopez is constantly receding from Kiss of the Spider Woman.

- NAVEEN KUMAR

The latest incarnation of Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel places its two prison cellmates - Molina, an eccentric romantic, and Valentin, a pragmatic revolutionary - squarely at the erotic and emotional centre. J-Lo is essentially an elaborate distraction, which is just fine as the story goes, but not exactly a kinetic position for a star.

The film written for the screen and directed by Bill Condon is a hybrid adaptation of Puig’s book and the 1992 musical it inspired, revered by Broadway fans for a dazzling and otherworldly performance by Chita Rivera.

The macabre warble of her voice and the wild jangling of her limbs are at least as memorable as any part of the show by Terrence McNally. (Puig also adapted his novel into a 1983 play.) Rivera's distinctiveness is probably why it’s one of the few musicals with a score by John Kander and Fred Ebb that haven't seen a major revival.