Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Review
by Tim Wick
Disclaimer - I saw this movie by myself in a relatively empty theatre. I
honestly think comedies are automatically better if you are in a theatre
with a lot of other people and at least some of them are friends of yours.
This COULD explain why I enjoyed Evolution even as any number of calmer
heads have tried to explain to me why that movie was a steaming pile of doo
doo. My wife saw the same movie two hours later in a full theatre with a
couple of friends. They all enjoyed the movie much more than I.
Not that I hated the movie - but I'll get to that.
As I've read through other reviews of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
(hereafter referred to as J&SBSB to save keystrokes), I have noticed that
every reviewer took something completely different away from the films.
Harry Knowles of Aint-it-Cool-News said that the whole movie was a great big
middle finger directed at talk backers on his site. Certainly the film
does poke fun at the jerks who have nothing better to do than find new and
creative ways to used the F word in reference to a celebrity they don't
happen to appreciate.
On the other hand, Roger Ebert feels it is more of a metaphysical
exploration of what happens when a bunch of characters from a bunch of
different films end up in the same movie together. Again, this
point of view is completely reasonable.
On Rotten Tomatoes (which has the film rated at 49% fresh, I found a link to a review by
Robert Wilonsky that pretty much feels the entire film is an advertisement
for Kevin Smith merchandise.
How can one film be all three of the above? It isn't really.
Digging for meaning in a film like this is a little like digging for gold in
your backyard. You might get lucky, but you would probably be better off
just plopping down a dollar for a lottery ticket.
J&SBSB is quite simply a road picture that is driven by a foul mouthed moron
and his slightly smarter and far less verbose friend. You will love or hate
this movie based on one thing and one thing alone - how much you like other
films by Kevin Smith.
Personally, I think that Smith is a great comic writer who should shy away
from directing his own films. Some of the edge in his dialogue is lost when
he translates it to film. Despite that, there is much I enjoy about all
four of his previous ventures (yes, even Mallrats). Here is a fanboy who
made it. Who out there (you know who I'm talking about) wouldn't love to
have the rep to get Mark Hamill to agree to do a Star Wars parody -
something he has steadfastly refused to do for years? I'd practically wet
myself for the opportunity. We all want to make movies. We all want to be
pals with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Kevin Smith has done that for us and
in return, we blindly go to his films and worship him for it.
Or we think he's a hack who go lucky.
Parts of this movie are ultimately in jokes for people like myself who have
actually seen all of Smith's prior work. Smith clearly doesn't give a rip
if some of the people in his audience will be looking confused and left out
as a result of jokes crafted to soar so high over their heads, the only way
they realize they missed something is the laughter of the twelve people in
the theatre who got it. You gotta appreciate a guy with that kind of
chutzpah. Must drive the movie studios mad, though.
I have to say I enjoy the fact that Silent Bob hardly ever says anything and
yet just about everything Jay says makes you wish he would just shut up. In
the end, Silent Bob doesn't speak because he never has anything particularly
useful to say. Neither does Jay, but he doesn't have the brains to realize
it.
The movie's only major flaw is that it places Jay (Jason Mews) and Silent
Bob (Kevin Smith) front and center for the entire picture. I like Jay, but
after a while the character can grate. Given his on screen companion is
someone who doesn't speak, you can find yourself wishing for a few scenes
that don't feature either of the pair. Fortunately, even Smith seems to
realize that and he does find excuses to take the two of them off screen
every now and again to give the audience a breather.
By definition this movie could never achieve five beakers. It's not trying
to be great, it's just trying to be funny. Heck, I suppose Mr. Wilonsky is
right in that all Smith is ultimately trying to do is get butts in the
seats. He knows which butts he wants and is adept at keeping them happy.
Overall, this movie connects on the level it was intended to connect. It is
not great filmmaking and it's not Smith's best work (I still have an
unnatural love for Clerks), but it is certainly worth the price of
admission. I might even find time for a second ride.
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