Can moviegoers get past the pre-release hype and view the movie without Ben and Jen-colored glasses?* Smith’s hoping for just that. But buried in the hoopla is the real question: Does “Jersey Girl” deserve all this attention? Casual fans of Smith’s previous work are going to come out scratching their heads. Real Smith fans will probably have followed the coverage more closely and read Smith’s comments about this being his most personal film to date. "Jersey Girl" is a drastic departure from previous Smith films. Don't look for Jay and Silent Bob in this family film, they only make an appearance in the View Askew logo. There isn’t any lesbian subplot, the video store in this movie is in no way reminiscent of "Clerks," and the style of humor isn’t something we’ve seen in a Smith film before.
Ben Affleck (a fixture in Smith’s film but so far not cast in “The Green Hornet”) stars as Ollie Trinke. Ollie’s got a beautiful, pregnant wife (Jennifer Lopez), a showplace he calls home, and as a hotshot music publicist, he rubs elbows with the elite. Life couldn’t get much better for Ollie. If things continued this way, then Smith wouldn’t have a film so poor Ollie loses his wife during childbirth, loses his job when he snaps during a Will Smith press conference, and has to move back home to live with his widowed father (George Carlin). With single parenthood thrust upon him, Ollie has to reassess everything he thought was important until he finally realizes family comes first. Thus we have the moral of the story. Roll credits - The End.
The synopsis above is fairly simplistic but it pretty much sums up what Smith is going for - and what he beats audiences over the head trying to get across. While teaching this important lesson, the plot moves along seven or so years and includes a sweet love story featuring Liv Tyler as a straight-talking video clerk, Ollie fighting to return to the music industry, and the daughter (Raquel Castro) teaching the adults lessons in love.
There were definitely moments in “Jersey Girl” when I felt Smith was out of his element. Affleck delivers a 15 minute speech to his newborn daughter (alright, it wasn’t 15 minutes but it sure felt like it) and portions of the dialogue between a 7 year-old daughter and her dad just didn’t seem like anything connected to reality (Affleck picks Castro up at school and it is the first time the audience sees her leaving school, but it plays like it’s Affleck’s first time seeing her also). But if those moments jarred me out of the movie, there were scenes that truly got to me. And leave all those "Gigli" feelings behind. Affleck and Tyler deliver what I believe is their best work to date (please no jokes on how that's not much of an accomplishment), George Carlin was perfect as the grizzled/wise elder, and Castro is cute without being annoying.
It’s perfectly acceptable for filmmakers to veer off course and do something totally unexpected. If you’d asked me a few years ago if I thought Kevin Smith would ever make a sweet family movie, I’d have laughed out loud. That said, I liked “Jersey Girl”, it’s different and 70% of it works. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit I want the other Kevin Smith back – the guy who cast Alanis Morissette as God and took on the Catholic Church. That’s the Smith I want to see more of.
GRADE: B-
"Jersey Girl" was directed by Kevin Smith and is rated PG-13 for language and sexual content including frank dialogue.
* I wanted to write a Jennifer/Ben-hoopla free review of “Jersey Girl” but found myself feeling the need to address the issue in the first paragraph. Editing it out didn’t seem to be fair to fans – or to Kevin Smith. Heck, the man’s been on a whirlwind tour promoting his film and Ben/Jen questions are almost always among the first questions he has to address. If he feels the need to defend/explain “Jersey Girl,” Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, and a different approach to filmmaking, then including the Affleck and Lopez distraction in this review just seemed necessary. Not addressing it would have been like ignoring the elephant in the middle of the room.
ADDITIONAL "JERSEY GIRL" RESOURCES:
Interview with Kevin Smith
"Jersey Girl" Photo Gallery
"Jersey Girl" Trailer, Credits and Movie News
