It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Kevin Smith and his films and humor in general. Take a look at any college dorm room’s video collection, and you’ll quickly see that I’m not alone.

Kevin Smith’s newest film, “Jersey Girl” represents the first departure from his Askewniverse flicks (”Clerks,” “Mallrats,” “Chasing Amy,” “Dogma” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”) and their colorful cast of Jersey characters that have become so popular on campuses. But Smith hasn’t gone too far away from what he knows. “Jersey Girl” is still has Smith’s flavor and is a great initial departure from his Askewniverse history.

The story centers around Ollie Trinke who has what he regards as the perfect life in New York City, working as a PR bigwig and married to the beautiful Gertrude Steiney, played by Affleck’s former real-life flame, Jennifer Lopez. Gertrude ends up getting pregnant and they prep for life with their first child. I don’t think I’m ruining it for anyone by telling you that Lopez’s character dies in the first 15 minutes of the film, due to complications during child birth.

Ollie is left having to juggle the loss of his beloved wife, and raise a child as a single parent, while trying to keep up with the demands of his job. He ends up moving back to Jersey with his father, played by George Carlin, and to his dismay, he has to quit his PR job and work locally in Jersey. The circumstances surrounding his change of vocations is amusing, but see the film to get the details there.

While back at home in Jersey, Affleck meets Maya, played by Liv Tyler, a local girl who works the mom and pop’s video store (ala “Clerks”). To no one’s surprise, they hit it off after Affleck gets over his initial locking out anyone but his deceased wife and a pseudo friendship with undertones of more ensues and it’s obvious where it’s going long before the movie ends.

Ollie Trinke struggles throughout the flick with dealing with the loss of his true love, and always being there for his daughter, Gertie. Gertie, played by big screen newcomer, Raquel Castro does a wonderful job in the movie and is not over the top cute or annoying, like a lot of Hollywood’s child actors. She does a good job of dealing with the range of emotions and situations in the movie.

A lot of people don’t like Affleck, but I think the guy is a competent actor and does a great job of portraying the Jersey single parent and widower. A nod also has to be given to George Carlin. His role is pretty serious and he does a great job playing the father aiding his son in being a father in his own right.

Kevin Smith has always been known for loading up his cast with personal friends and “Jersey Girl” continues the tradition. View Askew veterans Ben Affleck and George Carlin obviously have big roles, but others also pop up, such as Matt Damon and Jason Lee. It was funny though to look around the theater audience and realize that Jersey Girl had more of a broad audience, and most didn’t recognize the View Askew cameos; not that this is a bad thing though. Wider appeal means that more people will see it and aren’t as connected to the director. Regardless, it was a nice nod to fans who have seen his other five films.

It’s hard not to compare “Jersey Girl” to the other Kevin Smith flicks and on one hand, it’s its own beast that’s very different. It’s a little cutesy, but it’s still got that Smith flavor and humor to it. Rather than being a straight out comedy/adventure comedy like most of his previous endeavors, “Jersey Girl” is Smith’s second romantic comedy (”Chasing Amy” being the first). Smith says he doesn’t feel that “Jersey Girl” is all that much different than “Chasing Amy” and that they just swapped out the lesbian for a 7-year old. I tend to see the separation a little more substantial, but both are worthy of viewing. If you can get over Smith’s latest being a bit syrupy sweet, it’s a very enjoyable film worth checking out. “Jersey Girl” also has the added advantage in that it could give Kevin Smith a broader audience — great for us hardcore Kevin Smith fans for future movies.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 25th, 2005 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Film, Movie Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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