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Ben Affleck,
Ben Affleck,
Liv Tyler,
more...
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Kevin Smith,
Kevin Smith
see all cast/crew...
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: Miramax
: Romantic Comedy
: 102 min.
: English, French
: Spanish
see additional details...
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Writer and director Kevin Smith embraces his warm and fuzzy side with this comedy drama about a man who learns a lot about life and love in the wake of a personal tragedy. Ollie Trinke (Ben Affleck) is a guy who seemingly has it made -- he has a great job as a music publicist with a major Manhattan public relations firm, and he's madly in love with his wife, Gertrude (Jennifer Lopez). Ollie is very much excited about the fact he and Gertrude are soon to become parents, but Ollie's joy turns to despair when Gertrude dies in childbirth. Emotionally shattered, Ollie isn't sure what to do next, and he and his newborn daughter, Gertie, soon move to New Jersey to live with his father, Bart (George Carlin), who grows tired of playing babysitter after several months. Juggling his career with single parenthood proves to be more than Ollie can manage, and one day he's fired after he bungles a major press event. Unable to find work, Ollie eventually takes a dead-end job in New Jersey's public works department, and devotes himself to his daughter as he retreats from his own life. But after frequent visits to the local video store, he strikes up a friendship with Maya (Liv Tyler), a pretty girl who works behind the counter. As Ollie finally begins to come out of his shell, he's offered a chance to move back into the music industry, but he realizes that would mean moving back to Manhattan -- and Gertie (Raquel Castro), now seven years old, makes it clear she doesn't want to go. Jersey Girl also features cameo performances from Kevin Smith regulars Jason Lee and Matt Damon, and significantly is Smith's first feature not to include Jason Mewes and Smith himself as stoner archetypes Jay and Silent Bob. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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| Jersey Gorilla
by talltale
September 25, 2004 - 7:32 AM PDT
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3 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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| To experience the full schlock level of Kevin Smith's JERSEY GIRL (and I am a big fan of Smith's past work, so don't go dissing me just yet), you have to watch the entire movie and then take in the credits. At the end of the credit roll you'll come upon a section where Smith "thanks" each and every person--actor, techie, anyone, it seems, who participated in the film. His thanks are so effusive, so syrupy and embarrassing that you begin to realize that Smith must imagine he's created the ultimate masterpiece of family-movie art and he truly wants to acknowledge each and every person who helped him. That's nice, but the guy has "underachieved" just a bit. The believability factor here is so low that if you have a family of your own and you don't give up after the first half-hour, either your mind has been numbed beyond recognition or you can buy into the following scenario: The Affleck character, who has a top PR job in the music industry, can't afford either a nanny or a babysitter. Yeah, sure. Further, he has not a single friend he can get to baby-sit his newborn daughter in an emergency. Yeah, sure. If either of these dumb plot points were tidied up, there wouldn't be a story--that's how unreal things are in this wretched mess of a movie that even the presence of Liv Tyler can't save. (Yes--there is a funny notion of an elementary school class performing "Sweeney Todd," but the execution of this idea, like all else, is carried out in lame fashion.) Oh, Kevin, Kevin! Wherefore art thou, Kevin? |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 5.47)
62 Votes
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