I'm a long time fan of Kevin Smith and his productions, despite their flaws. The majority of his work is hardly groundbreaking cinema, but it is incredibly entertaining. Obviously this led to some curiosity when it came to Jersey Girl, even moreso after the announcement that it would be nothing like his previous films. The idea behind Jersey Girl was to shift away from the low-brow humor of the View Askew universe and make something that appealed to a wider audience. To many people, this instantly set off alarm bells with the fans claiming he had sold out by "going mainstream". Personally this didn't really bother me, I was just curious to see what he came up with.
So was the experiment a success? Both yes and no actually. Smith has created an entertaining, if flawed, romantic comedy that can appeal to mainstream audiences. On the other hand though, it didn't really manage to do that, still only grossing around $25 million at the US box office. I find it curious that shortly after this, Smith announced that he would return to his older material by producing a sequel to Clerks, the film that first
pushed him into the film world. To me, this says that he is viewing Jersey Girl as a failure, which is a shame, as while it is far from perfect, it was a good first attempt at trying something different.
As for the film itself, we follow Ollie (Ben Affleck), a New York publicist whose life is thrown into chaos after his wife (Jennifer Lopez) dies during childbirth. He moves back to New Jersey to live with his father (George Carlin) and slowly begins to accept the responsibilities of raising his daughter. Basically, if you've seen Jack and Sarah, you'll know what's going to happen.
That doesn't really matter though, as Smith does make it likable enough on the most part. The film by and large walks the fine line begins drama and sentiment, and does so well, only occasionally crossing into the world of cringeworthy lines. The comedy also fits nicely, the biting wit of the previous films seemingly the only part that made it intact into this film. It could have so easily fallen apart by descending into over the top sentiment or focusing too heavily on low-brow humor, but the film balances all of these elements without ever going too far.
The entire cast is spot on with their performances, particularly Ben Affleck, who despite being constantly derided by most, proves again that with the right material, he can turn in a brilliant performance. George Carlin is also impressive in his first dramatic role, managing to not fall into any of the "miserable father" stereotypes. Everyone else fits perfectly too, with Raquel Castro as Ollie's daughter putting in an excellent performance for her years, and Liv Tyler, as Mya, the video store clerk, is simply adorable. The only person that really seems out of place is Lopez, but as she is gone within the first fifteen minutes of the film, it doesn't really matter. Also be sure to look out for the amusing cameos by Jason Lee, Matt Damon, and one or two others I won't reveal here.
However, the film is far from being perfect, largely down to the number of cliches that Smith seems to resort to. The generic scene where one person starts to clap in a silent audience and everyone follows is here. The standard romantic type scenes are here. Hell, the whole film is just one giant cliche in itself. I'd like to say that this was an intentional move by Smith, but the film doesn't really feel comfortable enough for that to be the case.
The structure of the film also has some problems as well, particularly in the way characters are introduced and are on-screen. Some characters go so long between scenes that we almost forget that they exist, and not bringing in Liv Tyler before the halfway mark of the film makes it more difficult to be bothered about her and Ollie when we haven't had time to get to know her. Whether or not the upcoming, longer directors cut of the film will fix these problems, I don't know, but even if it does, it will have done little for the theatrical version.
All in all, if you can get past the cliches and the flaws in the story, there is a lot to enjoy here. The pop culture references in themselves almost make the whole thing, particularly as the 90s setting allows some great hindsight humor as Ollie laughs at the concept of a Will Smith film career and insists that George Michael is "all about the ladies". The film is entertaining, although I doubt it'll hold up over repeat viewings, but there is enough here to enjoy the once, providing you can tolerate something that is a little cliched, a little inoffensive, and if I'm entirely honest, a little bland.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2002 - Drama - Director: Michael Caton-Jones - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Robert De Niro, Frances McDormand, James Franco, Eliza Dushku, William Forsythe, George Dzundza, Patti Lupone
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
There are times when I really enjoy something like this and tonight was one of them. Luci
ralfschumacher 27.09.2004 20:08
A very good review! I'm a big fan of Kevin Smith films and can't wait to see this film, but I guess it won't be as good as his other stuff. --Chris--
Zoe 14.09.2004 21:50
A shame I guess that it's a disppointment, I'm a Smith fanboy myself and if I'm completely honest I wasn't overwhelmed by JASBSB - as an in joke for the fans it was fine, but a patchy film. So I was pleased when this film came out. Anyhoos a great review that showcases your knowledge and admiration of Smith whilst remaining objective throughout Zx
![Jersey Girl [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78496776.jpg "Jersey Girl [DVD] [2004]")
![Jersey Girl [DVD] [1993] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/69899402.jpg "Jersey Girl [DVD] [1993] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
Sep 11th, 2004
very helpful by (94%):
helpful by (6%):
