Review: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)

This is a Resurfaced review written in 2002 or earlier. For more information, please visit this link: Resurfaced Reviews.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Rating

Director

Kevin Smith

Screenplay

Kevin Smith

Length

1h 44m

Starring

Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Jeff Anderson, Brian Christopher O’Halloran, Shannon Elizabeth, Elisa Dushku, Ali Larter, Jennifer Schwalbach, Will Ferrell, Jason Lee, Judd Nelson, George Carlin, Carrie Fisher, Seann William Scott, Jon Stewart

MPAA Rating

Buy/Rent Movie

Soundtrack

Poster

Review

Audiences flock to films to be entertained. Most of the time, they don’t care if it has a plot or great acting; they just want to escape their everyday lives. Perhaps “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” isn’t the best way to do that, but it is a worthwhile escape from reality, even if for a short period of time.

Not many films can admit that they are cheesy. “Jay and Silent Bob” certainly can and revels in its own lack of tastefulness and necessity. Director Kevin Smith brings his alter ego (he plays Silent Bob) and sidekick (Jason Mewes as Jay) from previous films like “Clerks,” “Mallrats,” “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma” and gives then their own hilarious, if not inane, feature film.

The film is about Jay and Silent Bob, whose lives have been turned into a comic book, must travel to Hollywood to stop the making of a feature film featuring their characters. They’ve decided they don’t want to be trash-talked by a bunch of cyber geeks who call themselves critics. What ensues is a madcap excursion in utter futility as the couple darts across country any way they can. They even take the advice of seven dirty words scribe George Carlin who shows them how to gratify would-be hitchhiker rides.

The kitsch grows as the film progresses. Once the duo begins their crossroad tour, they happen across a band of attractive female mercenaries, Chrissy (Ali Larter), Missy (Jennifer Schwalbach), Sissy (Eliza Dushku) and Justice (Shannon Elizabeth). Justice, the black sheep of the group, falls in love with Jay, but eventually succumbs to the pressures of her colleagues.

The movie-within-a-movie continues as Jay and Silent Bob make their way to Hollywood where the senseless mayhem continues. They meet Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (who also appears as former comic book co-creator Holden) who play themselves in a ridiculous sequel to Good Will Hunting. They also meet their screen alter egos. Jason Biggs is Bluntman, a.k.a. Silent Bob, and James Van Der Beek is Chronic, a.k.a. Jay.

The comedy is virtually priceless and despite my reserved nature, I laughed through a great portion of the film. Many of the scenes are based on classic scenes from film history, including the famous “Fugitive” dam dive. Unfortunately, that enjoyment doesn’t bridge well to critical analysis. Both artistic quality and entertainment must meld into a cohesive body and not slide towards one extreme or the other.

The main characters are barely three-dimensional while the supporting cast is barely two. The plot is off-the-wall and the effects laughable, but what really matters to this film is how it makes the audience feel. Kevin Smith knows how to elicit the proper emotions from his audiences. “Dogma” was a great example of that and to top it all off, the film is well edited.

The problem is that even with enjoyment added to every frame, it isn’t enough for “Jay and Silent Bob” in the end. No audience will enjoy itself more at a film, as long as they remember that this film is raunchy and does not stop at any boundary of good taste. It rams through each one quickly and efficiently without concern for the passersby.