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View Date: Aug 18, 2001 Cast:
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Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Dependant upon perspective and social sensitivity, Kevin Smith is either one of the smartest presences in Hollywood, or one of the most pretentious and obnoxious. His films usually represent a delicate, biting, sometimes hard to swallow, but difficult to ignore combination of these things. Maybe it’s a good thing that Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is the conclusion of his View Askew four pack. Smith, Hollywood’s resident socially observant smarty pants and voice of Generation X will retire the group of characters, familiar to die-hard fans, with this film. It’s a good thing, because this film proves that their humor and appeal may be wearing thin, and while the sharp insight is there, this time into Hollywood’s inner workings, and the machinations of the publicity machine, the sharpness is dulling, the humor is slightly tiring, and the cross references are forced. The end result is a film that is funny, and relevant, but tries too hard at times to wedge in all of Smith’s trademarks. At least he’s quitting while he’s ahead, but time has taken its toll on Smith’s path with these characters, as this film sadly shows in spots. In this alternate, yet always intertwining world, we are shown the genesis of Jay and Silent Bob through a humorous opening sequence. This melds into present day where they are at their usual post outside a convenience store. Once they are banished from the location, they find out, through circumstance, that the comic book (from Chasing Amy) based on them is going to made into a movie and that they would be due some financial gain from it. They also discover the alternate world of the Internet, and take offense to some criticisms posted on a movie rumor message board (MoviePoopShoot.com, Harry Knowles, you have now been spoofed). They set out on a journey to Hollywood to claim their monies, shut up their critics, and stop production of the movie so that, in their twisted sense of reality, they can silence the voices of the e-masses. Smith combines road movie elements, into his satirical situation, by having Jay and Silent Bob encounter past characters and actors along the way. There is a slightly unnecessary side plot involving jewel thieves which does little more than give more material to spoof, and finally give Jay a romantic (if that word can be used with him) interest. Individual scenes are funny; the story itself plays out too long. The shining moments occur during some of the dialogue, which is far from intellectual, but simplistically insightful at points. Jabs at Miramax, the films of Damon and Affleck, and a hilarious sequence involving Jason Biggs and James Van Der Beek, show the underlying spirit that should have permeated the whole movie, but unfortunately did not. For every 4 or 5 of these jabs there are crude sexual references (done tongue in cheek, but still over the top, even for highly hormonal youth with a penchant for profanity) and wedged in references (with Affleck, Lee and Adams's reappearances) which only slow things down and space out the laughs and insight. Tone these down, or cut them out, and this would have been something sharp and memorable, instead of just funny. The performances are scattered out a bit, with no one really shining or standing out. Some characters have dual roles, with Affleck, Lee and Damon playing themselves or incarnations of themselves, along with other characters. This is forgivable since Smith has already established his own universe of reality. Elizabeth is surprisingly sweet in her romantic, yet bad girl role, and some great Star Wars related cameos (from Hamill and Fisher) keep the movies spirit alive, but never really kicking Ultimately, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is an often funny, sometimes crude, but fitting final chapter to this group of characters and stories. By incorporating the styles and mannerisms, along with the personas, of the previous efforts, he can now close the book. And not a moment too soon, as the movie also shows that in his desperation to appease his fans and reference previous films, he has drawn the biting wit of Dogma and Clerks, but also the humor level of Mallrats, his sole failure amongst the bunch. Smith, who is the unofficial voice of a generation and the antitheses of Hollywood, may have started believing his own hype. While the film does have a sharp touch of social observation and criticism, it also shows, glaringly, that Smith is a tad too in love with his characters quirks and crude nature, which steals or at least dilutes some of the films intentions. The inside winking references from his previous films as well as others (Star Wars, Planet of The Apes, X-Files, Mission Impossible) are occasionally hilarious (a great Scooby Doo sequence and Good Will Hunting 2) but often seem thrown in, as if Smith lost his cool, calm demeanor and was so excited when he got an idea, that he just haphazardly tossed it on screen so he wouldn’t forget it. I wouldn’t be so critical of this aspect, had his previous films not shown that he has the ability to balance these inclusions with a story and a message. Smith's films have never taken themselves seriously and have still managed to maintain a fun, but insightful spirit. This one does the same, but still tries to be a bit too witty and tongue in cheek for its own good. Yes, the film is a blast, which will keep the specific audience of his films content since Smith's films are not a universal, but acquired taste. It almost hurts me physically, not to have enjoyed this film more than I did, because I really wanted to. Smith is one of the powerful, inspirational young voices in filmmaking, and is definitely someone who will have a long, successful say into where filmmaking goes in the 21st century. But I also cannot avoid the fact that this film is not the powerhouse it should have been. It has more of the good things (above referenced spoofs and social commentary on Hollywood, the Internet and celebrity attitudes) but too many of the bad (the over the top humor and forced tongue in cheek references) to be a raving success. Instead, it’s an enjoyable, sometimes funny finale to what has indeed been an enjoyable ride through his ViewAskew universe. ($$$ out of $$$$$)Agree? Disagree, Questions? Comments? |
