|
The Movie: In 1994 a man by the name of Kevin Smith began his film career with a black and white film entitled Clerks. The film was shot for around $18,000 and was financed completely on various credit cards that Smith held. It was a simple story of two convience store clerks Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) and what they did to pass the time at their respective stores. The film was well received on the festival circuit and was picked up for release by Miramax. In 1995 Kevin was handed a lot of cash to make his first big studio picture for Universal. Mallrats was a film with a broader scope but still focused primarily on two guys. T.S Quint (Jeremy London) and Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee). Next up for Smith was another intimate feature by the name of Chasing Amy. A film with a far smaller budget then Mallrats. Amy also reunited actors Jason Lee and Ben Affleck who both had roles in 'Rats. 1999 saw the release of the long delayed Dogma a film which came under fire from the Catholic League for it's message regarding organized religion. My favorite aspect of the Kevin Smith Jersey "Trilogy" (this is actually the 5th film) are the characters of Jay and Silent Bob. Jay played by Jason Mewes is a stoner and a drug dealer who hangs out with Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) who has Jay puts is his "Hetero lifemate". In Clerks they passed the time by selling weed outside the Quick Stop. In Rats they passed their time by trying to trash a stage in the mall and in Amy they showed up briefly to collect some royalties for a comic that bears their likeness. Now amidst controversy from GLADD a Gay and Lesbian organization Kevin Smith brings us his swan-song to the New Jersey Trilogy with Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. The opening of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back finds our heroes back where we first met them so many years ago outside the entrances of Quick Stop and RST Video. Jay is back to his rapping self cursing up a storm but actually has some decent rhymes. Soon Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) emerges from RST to notify them that he has finally made good on his long running threat and called the cops. Jay and Bob manage to flee the cops as they often do and decide to go visit their friend Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee) at his comic book store. Brodie informs them that in the wake of the success of the X-Men film that the comic based on their likeness has been optioned for a film by Miramax and that they should go track down Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) for their phat movie cash. Jay and Bob being the kind of guys to never turn down free cash head over to Holden's place. Holden tells them that he can't help them having sold off his share of the Bluntman and Chronic rights to Banky some years back. Holden also opens Jay's eyes to the Internet which Holden describes as a place for people to bash movies and download free porn. Holden shows Jay a website by the name of MoviePoopShoot.com which has fans sounding off with their thoughts on the movie. Jay doesn't like what he sees and decides that he and Bob need to go to Hollywood to stop the movie from being made. After hitchhiking a fair distance they decide to make a quick stop over at a fast food place. Jay meets the girl of his dreams. Justice (Shannon Elizabeth) is driving to Colorado with her friends Chrissy (Ali Larter), Sissy (Eliza Dusku), and Missy (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith) to try and spring a monkey from an animal testing facility. Jay and Bob go along for the ride in hopes to get to beautiful Hollywood, California. Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is by far one of the years funniest films providing laughs for both the hard core Askew fan and the regular moviegoer alike. Kevin has always been a director that layers his films with in jokes for us that have been there from the beginning. There are quite a few in this picture and while not everyone in audience got these jokes it was fun to see how many of the audience members were Kevin Smith fans and not just there for a free movie. The jokes in this film are of an adult nature as one has come to expect from Smith's previous films. Some of the targets in this film include homosexuals, Internet movie fan-boys like myself and Hollywood. It doesn't matter if this is your first Askew flick or your 5th there is something for everyone here. Well not everyone, If your easily offended then this isn't the flick for you. Kevin Smith likes to use a core group of actors in his movies and as this is the film that wraps up the whole Jersey saga this one is no different. Aside from Jay and Silent Bob themselves this film has so many characters in it that each person appears on screen for only one or two scenes each. Ben Affleck appears as Holden McNeil (Chasing Amy) as well as his character from Good Will Hunting. Jason Lee shows up briefly as both Banky Edwards and Brodie Bruce. Jeff Anderson, Brian O'Halloran reprise their Clerks roles. Joey Lauren Adams and Rene Humphrey show up briefly in their Mallrats roles while Shannon Doherty also appears but not as her previous character of Rene. Also returning are Dwight Ewell (Chasing Amy's Hooper X), George Carlin (Dogma) as a new character, Alanis Morrisette, Chris Rock and Matt Damon (Dogma). New to the Kevin Smith universe are American Pie stars Shannon Elizabeth, Seann William Scott and Jason Biggs. Also along for the ride are Bring It On's Eliza Dusku, Smith's wife Jennifer Smith, John Stewart, Tracy Morgan , Will Ferrell and Luke and Leia from Star Wars themselves Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. There were so many cameos that I couldn't possibly list them all but as a random sampling you can see there is someone for everybody. With a such a large group of actors and actresses each one has very limited screen time. However there were a couple of performances that I felt really stood out. One of my biggest concerns with this picture was would I be able to watch a film were Jay and Silent Bob were the main characters. Although Dogma had Jay and Silent Bob in most scenes this film puts Jay and Silent Bob in almost every scene. In the previous Jersey flicks Jay seemed like a pretty one sided character who only sold drugs and made trouble but here he's a well rounded individual as he learns to love a girl for who she is and not to demean her. Jason Mewes gives his best performance here and has really grown as an actor since the days of Clerks. I hope he will continue to act in other features be it with Kevin or another director. Kevin Smith himself gives another great performance as Silent Bob who conveys his thoughts and emotions through his facial expressions. Shannon Elizabeth who has disappointed me recently with her roles in Tomcats and American Pie 2 gives Justice a human side and was the right choice for Jay's love interest. I was worried about the character of Jay having a love interest but Shannon managed to pull it off. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was a bitter sweet viewing for me as no matter how much I looked forward to the film. I knew at the end of it there would be no further adventures to come. Writer/Director Kevin Smith wants to move on to bigger and better things and end the Jay/Silent Bob saga on a high note and he does so here. In a summer full of one gag comedies like The Animal and Evolution. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a non stop laugh riot featuring many quality jokes on many different levels. At 1 hour and 35 minutes it's over far too fast. A dynamite film for the Askew Fan but on top of that a fun film for the average moviegoer. Kevin I'd like to thank you for this series of films as they will always hold a special place in my heart. So with a smile on my face I walked out of the theater chanting Snootch to the Nootch. Reviewed August 16 by Mark McLeod |