Jersey Girl: Movie, DVD Review

Written and directed by Kevin Smith, 102 minutes, rated PG-13.

(Originally published 2004)

Prior to the release of the new Kevin Smith movie, “Jersey Girl,” the warning signs were hung and lit for the movie to be a bust.

Unlike Smith’s previous films—“Clerks,” “Chasing Amy” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” among them—“Jersey Girl” had the stink of a corporate sell-out.

That’s nothing new for Hollywood, where the cash registers still ring as souls are casually traded for fame, but it is something new for Smith, who has always stuck to his vulgar little niche, regardless of whether the masses love his work or not.

And so, over the past several weeks, it has been interesting to watch the director defend his latest picture not for the over-the-top profanity for which he’s known, but for the gentle tone, warm-hearted schmaltz, and sweet family values he suddenly has embraced.

Strange times. But for Smith, it becomes even more complicated. “Jersey Girl” is the first film to feature Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez since their tacky romance went so spectacularly, publicly wrong and their movie, “Gigli,” quickly followed suit.

For 12 high-strung minutes, Ben and Jen share the screen in “Jersey Girl,” but here’s the thing—this time out, they’re actually rather good together. They have chemistry, humor and energy, which Smith pulls from them in performances that are more heated and real than anything the couple gave us in the many canned interviews that proceeded their romantic demise.

More surprising is that “Jersey Girl” isn’t half bad. Yes, it’s story is a predictable tumble of cliches, but Smith counters with dialogue that’s often sharp and spontaneous, offering enough funny moments to make his movie moderately interesting. As such, it isn’t a total misfire.

In it, Affleck is Ollie Trinke, a single dad, widower and successful New York publicist who is blackballed by the industry after creating a publicity gaff. Fade to black, with Ollie out of work.

Seven years later, the story picks up in New Jersey, where Ollie and his 7-year-old daughter, Gertie (Raquel Castro), are now living with Ollie’s father, Bert (George Carlin). There, where Ollie now toils at a less glamorous job, he’s still trying to pull his life together when he meets Maya (Liv Tyler), a cute video store clerk with an understanding smile and helpful advice on life who might just be the person to get Ollie over his dead wife.

Do we all know how this movie ends? Sure we do. Do we wish it were better? Absolutely. Still, the film is more suited to Affleck’s limited talents than one of his lame action blockbusters and Tyler, always a treat, is a fresh presence onscreen.

This is Smith’s safest movie to date, but it’s also his most adult, a clear attempt to move beyond the comic book fantasy world in which he’s lived for so long and try something new. He isn’t entirely successful, but he also doesn’t entirely fail. His movie is average. These days at the movies, that proves better than most.

Grade: C+