Review of Jersey Girl (2004) by Matthew R — 14 Mar 2010

Ben Affleck plays the role of Oliver Trinke who works as a publicist in NY city and is about to become a father. His wife is played by Jennifer Lopez. Ollie has a tough time settling down into married life, then potential fatherhood but when Lopez dies post childbirth of an aneurysm, he is naturally very distraught. One month later Ollie is at the grand opening of a Hard Rock café but he has his daughter with him and during a fit of anger he flips out in front of a room full of journalists and to his client Will Smith which leads to him being fired. Ollie returns to his father's house in New Jersey and attempts to forge a new life there, while still longing for the old days. Seven years later Ollie is still living in New Jersey with his father but has stopped having sex. Liv Tyler gets a chance to steal all our hearts as Maya, a grad student who earns her living clerking in a video store. She comes into Ollie's life after a reasonably embarrassing sequence and is fascinated by his celibacy and while they never attempt to have a normal relationship, they do end up being attracted to one another. Raquel Castro completely steals every scene she's in as the seven year old Gertie Trinke and is clearly the best performer in this film. George Carlin was a believable father/grandfather with a perfect balance of comedy and tenderness.

I don't like Affleck but he was pretty okay in this one aptly cast as an inane hapless father whose daughter is much smarter than him lol. The story was predictable but feel free to see it for yourself though.