Ben Affleck Gifted Jennifer Lopez A Four-Minute Video Montage Of Their Best Moments From The Early 2000s For Valentine’s Day And You Seriously Need To Watch It
Will he be getting a third Oscar for this? Perhaps not.
It might not be their first Valentine’s Day together, but Ben Affleck went all out for his special day with Jennifer Lopez.
As I’m sure you’re aware, Ben and Jen first started dating in 2002 and quickly got engaged in the same year. After becoming one of the 2000s favorite power couples, they ultimately called it quits in 2004.
But in an exciting turn of events, the duo made their triumphant comeback last summer, rekindling their romance 17 years after calling off their wedding.
And so, to mark their first Valentine's Day as the newly reincarnated Bennifer 2.0, the two-time Academy Award–winning filmmaker put his expertise to good use with a very special video montage.
The short video is packed full of classic Bennifer 1.0 moments from the early 2000s, which play on to the sound of new Jennifer’s song “On My Way.”
And what it might lack in cinematic value, it certainly makes up for with 2000s nostalgia. Ben’s four-minute masterpiece — complete with glitzy edits and transitions — includes clips from Jennifer’s iconic 2003 “Jenny From the Block” music video, as well as footage from the premiere of their movie, Gigli.
But of course — being the true friend that he is — Ben made sure not to leave out the other love in his life, yes…we’re talking about Matt Damon.
As well as the J.Lo throwbacks, Ben made the creative decision to include several clips of himself and Matt shooting Good Will Hunting in the late '90s. Why he did this remains unclear, but we’re sure Matt was happy to be included.
Nonetheless, Jennifer was clearly thrilled with Ben’s handiwork. On Saturday, she revealed the video in her newsletter, On the JLo, writing that she would usually only share this kind of "very special and personal" footage with her "inner circle."
“Watching it made me think about the journey of true love, its unexpected twists and turns, and that when it's real, it actually can last forever,” she wrote of Ben’s gift. “This seriously melted my heart.”
As the video shows, Ben and Jen have been on quite the journey together in the past two decades. But, of course, things haven’t always been smooth sailing for this duo.
Speaking about their relationship in a profile for Rolling Stone, Jennifer shed more light on the demise of her and Ben’s engagement, admitting that public scrutiny led to their downfall.
If you weren’t aware, Ben and Jen faced a ton of criticism from the media and public the first time they dated. Jennifer, more specifically, was subject to a ton of abuse around that time, including an episode of South Park where she was called a “mean-spirited bitch.”
Reflecting on it now, Jen described the public hate as “brutal,” adding that, “It’s one of those things that you bury very deeply so you can move on and get about your business.”
She also admitted that, while she and Ben were happy together, the hate from the outside world quickly turned things sour.
“It’s funny because Ben and I were together, and we were so in love. It was one of the happiest times of my life,” she said.
“But also, there was this other thing happening where we were being criticized, and it really destroyed our relationship from the inside out, because we were just too young to understand at that time what were really the most important things in life,” she went on.
But, after 17 years apart to grow and learn on their own terms, Jen said that “the game has changed.”
“We've both grown. We're the same, and we're different. And that's what's nice. Having a second chance at real love... We learned a lot. We know what's real, what's not real,” Jennifer said of Ben.
And so — if Ben’s video montage is anything to go by — it seems like the future is looking bright for Bennifer 2.0.
“I don’t think we would have got back together if we thought that was where it was headed,” Jennifer told Rolling Stone.
She concluded: “We feel like what we found again is so much more important, and how we protect that and how we live our lives — what to share, what not to share — is the balance that we have now, the benefit of experience and the wisdom that we gained over the years.”
For all their best bits (and a few of Matt Damon's), you can watch the video here!
