Review of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) by Josh G — 22 Sep 2009

I really don't think I like Kevin Smith.

Oh sure, I guess Dogma is okay and Chasing Amy won me over. But those movies are kind of the exception to the rule with Smith, whose emphasis seems to mostly be on competing with himself for proving how nerdy he can be, while also tying in as much scatological humor and snide inside blows at critics as possible. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is pretty much all of the negative things about Smith distilled into one picture.

Which isn't to say that there are some genuinely funny parts. The opening scenes actually had me pretty excited about the film, showing Jay and Silent Bob being left as children outside of their beloved Quick-Stop and morphing into the foul-mouthed adults that we've all come to know and... well, that we've all come to know. But it isn't long before the boys are on a road trip, trying to get to Hollywood in order to stop production on a movie adaptation of a comic book that uses their likenesses. Why? Because they are afraid that the haters on the interwebs will say bad things about them. B-b-b-but they won't know that the characters aren't the real guys! It will totally ruin their reputation!

If you think that perhaps Smith's own feelings about his critics are coming out here, it's not long before it becomes much clearer. Jay and Silent Bob are constantly reading reviews of the film that disparage them, and the most vicious attacks are generally credited to people with screennames like "magnolia lover 78", or something similar. Ben Affleck reads some of these, and damn him, he emphasizes words in just such a way to come off like a complete tool. Regarding the magnolia-lover thing, IMDB Trivia attributes the inclusion of this line to an online argument that Smith had with fans of the film Magnolia after he bashed the film. Yes, that's the sort of movie this is.

And so on. Where Silent Bob ultimately speaks, in the past it has been for dramatic or emotional purposes. Here, it's just used as a funny gag where he gets frustrated at Jay and yells in his face. This is a precursor to Silent Bob's depressing line in Clerks 2 after he is looked to for advice: "I got nothing." At least in J&SBSB, Smith still had a little bit... although not much. There are traces of ideas, like the idea for Good Will Hunting 2, which could have worked really well but seem half-hearted. Or are accompanied by too much nodding and winking.

Mark Hammill is in the movie! Ya get it? Ya get it? 'Cause he was in Star Wars and Kevin Smith is a geek and proud of it and Star Wars was cool and wouldn't it be great if we had like a Star Wars reference, but like with bongs and dick jokes? Now you're talking!

I'm sure everybody who worked on this movie had a whole lot of fun, but watching it isn't nearly as enjoyable. But, actually, you know who would really love this movie? Kevin Smith. Come to think of it, I think he's pretty much the target audience.

Is that commendable? He's doing what he wants to be doing, I guess. Is there not some point where you've got to balance the patting your own back with the making a movie that other people will care to watch? Discuss.