Review of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) by Dave A — 07 May 2009

Outrageous. Contagious. Infectious. Words a poet once said to describe the various legions and sores on his 12th century body. He had tuberculosis, big surprise.

Fortunately, those SAME words are now used in a more positive light in modern times thanks to Kevin Smith movies. Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back is no exception. Kevin Smith continues to do what he does best: write funny, well-written and subversive humourous monologues that never grow stale or tired with time. No matter how many times I watch this movie, I never stop laughing at Jay's profanity-laten rant regarding the internet movie buffs at the Moobys. Moobys is a sanctuary of family bonding, like McDonalds (to which its replicating) and to have those social bonds of safe, enjoyable family time shattered by a stoner spouting his mouth off results in side-splitting good time.

One awesome aspect of Jay & Silent Bob that no one talks about is the effectiveness of the cameos. There are a couple dozen great actors at some point on screen here in a movie no more than 100 minutes, and yet Smith crams so much content, so many jokes that even someone like Wes Craven, who has 4 seconds of screen time, is given a memorable line.

Craven to Shannon Doherty: "Studies have shown people love monkeys.".

JAY shouting to the film crew: "WE LOVE THIS MONKEY!".

Craven to Shannon Doherty: "See!!".

Do I recommend this to the uninitated?? It's tough to recommend a Kevin Smith like this, because the proper thing to do is say "go see Clerks and if you like that, then check this one out!" But Jay & Silent Bob is good enough to stand alone without its predecessors. Sure, you may not understand all the side characters and their relationships with Jay & Silent Bob (Banky, Holden, McNeil, and the Quickstop guys to name a few) but this movie has laughs in spades.

Jay & Silent Bob are the indie versions of cult icons. They began as humble impersations of Kevin Smith's high school friends (Jay being inspired by Mewes himself) and have grown to become a veritable comedic duo able to drive mainstream box office revenues. With Kevin Smith in the prime of his directorial and writing duties, I can only hope he can extend his stable of audience-tested favourites and build upon his alternate Jay & Silent Bob universe. Keep 'em coming Kevin!!