Sandy Kenyon review: 'The Boy Next Door' a new low for J-Lo

NEW YORK (WABC) -- When it comes to music and TV, Jennifer Lopez is as popular as ever. But entertainment reporter Sandy Kenyon says her return to the big screen may not live up to the hype.

"The Boy Next Door" is being called a new low for J-Lo, and her new picture has earned the star some of the worst reviews of her career.

It's a howler, or what he likes to call a serious picture that's so bad it's hilarious.

The title character is a 27-year-old man who we're supposed to believe is still in high school. He transfers to Monroe High, where Lopez's character works as a teacher.

Clare and her son live apart from his dad after she caught her husband cheating before the movie starts, and mom's feeling frisky.

Nervous laughter ripples through the crowd as the most cringe-worthy sex scene in recent memory begins, and it's designed to show as little of Lopez as possible -- her fine public image preserved by means of the inevitable regrets.

In the years since she was a "Maid in Manhattan," Lopez seems to have forgotten how to act, and that's never more clear than after her boy toy goes all psycho on her.

He says seemingly serious lines were greeted with howls of laughter at the screening he attended, with several critics agreeing that this drama was funnier than most of what passes for comedy in Hollywood.

The giggles only grew louder as "The Boy Next Door" got crazier and crazier.

It is often said that January is the month where bad movies go to die.

The only good one is "American Sniper," and it came out in December to qualify for this year's Academy Awards.

It is doing really well for all kinds of reasons, but in part because there is literally nothing new worth watching in theaters.