Written and Directed by Kevin Smith
** (two stars)
RATED R
Did the world really need another Jay and Silent Bob movie?
Now, dear readers, if you have been frequent visitors of this site over its 10 year duration, you will already know that I have been an adoring fan of Writer/Director Kevin Smith ever since "Clerks" (1994), his audacious, spectacularly foul mouthed and brilliantly written debut feature film entered the world. My affection only grew throughout his ever expanding self-described cinematic "View Askewniverse" starring his legion of inter-connected characters, stories, subplots and films overall, including his finest film to date, "Chasing Amy" (1997), his outstanding religious satire "Dogma" (1999) and the even more spectacularly foul mouthed yet surprisingly poignant "Clerks II" (2006).
Additionally, I have been a most enthusiastic supporter of his equally audacious forays into horror films, featuring his stark, brutal "Red State" (2011) and his unapologetically grotesque yet unexpectedly profound (yes, profound--I said it!) "Tusk" (2014).
Essentially, for my personal tastes and preferences, I have been enthralled with Smith the most when he operates at his most fearless, when he dives deeply into his own idiosyncratic skills and talents and doesn't undercut himself by allowing his sophomoric and overly scatological tendencies overtake his storytelling, a quality that has torpedoed several of his films, including "Zack And Miri Make A Porno" (2008) and honestly, the less said about the rightfully titles "Cop Out" (2010), the better.
When it comes to his signature drug dealing characters of the motor mouthed Jay and the aptly named Silent Bob, it can really go either way for me because I do appreciate them more in small doses. That being said, Kevin Smith's "Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back" (2001) was a multi-layered, ingeniously written knockout.
Functioning precisely as the live-action cartoon a Jay and Silent Bob movie would actually be, Smith's road trip odyssey, during which our titular stoners make a cross-country trek to Hollywood to stop production of a feature film based upon the independent comic book that was in turn based upon themselves, served as an almost kaleidoscopic travelogue through the View Askeniverse's cavalcade of characters, as well as a sharp Hollywood satire, a vortex of vehemently profane humor and a healthy, heaping level of self-reflexive metatextuality that made the entire experience critic-proof as all of the bad reviews were weaved into the narrative and the audience was not let off of the hook for even seeing it either. Loaded end to end with the very type of bodily function humor I typically cannot stand, I laughed myself sick the entire time while marveling that he even had the ability to put it all together at all.
Now, we arrive with Kevin Smith's "Jay And Silent Bob Reboot," his latest return to his cherished Salinger-esque cinematic playground as well as his take upon our rampant reboot culture that has overtaken Hollywood. While being a subject that feels more than ripe and ready for Smith to satirize, as well as to re-visit with old friends, unfortunately, the film is not as inspired as it should or could be or even as much as Smith might think that it actually is.
"Jay and Silent Bob Reboot" again stars Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith as their trademark "hetero-life mate" characters as they are arrested outside of the Quick Stop convenience store, taken to court and subsequently lose a case to Saban Films (who actually distributed this film throughout the United States), the studio that is making "Bluntman V. Chronic," itself a reboot of the now nearly 20 year old film "Bluntman and Chronic." And to make matters worse, the twosome have also lost their naming right meaning that they are no longer allowed to self-identify as "Jay" or "Silent Bob."
Confused despondent, our heroes visit their friend from "Mallrats" (1995) comic book store owner Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee), who informs them of the reboot, which is being directed by Kevin Smith, and will be filming a climatic sequence at the annual fan convent ion of "Chronic-Con" in Los Angeles in a mere three days. Feeling determined once more, Jay and Silent Bob decide to take another cross country trek to stop the movie once again.
Yes, it's deja vu all over a gain save for one surprising and life-altering element. Arriving in Chicago top pay a visit to Jay's long lost love, former diamond thief Justice (Shannon Elizabeth) who informs Jay that unbeknownst to him, for all of these years, she has been raising...their daughter!
Yup, Jay is a Father and his daughter Millennium "Milly" Faulken (played by Smith's own daughter Harley Quinn Smith), is a hot-tempered, stupendously foul mouthed pot head (mmmm...hmmmm) who hijacks her way to Hollywood alongside our twosome, while Jay, as a promise to Justice, refuses to tell Milly who he really is.
Truth be told, this is all well and good as Kevin Smith's "Jay And Silent Bob Reboot" has certainly enough material to serve effectively as a live-action cartoon, a send-up of the reboot genre while also advancing the continuing narratives and lives of his core characters as they are now, like Smith himself, all deep into their 40's and even knocking on 50.
That being said, Kevin Smith does have this tendency, as previously mentioned, to sell himself and his work short. a quality which I think may be endearing to much of his fan base, as he does present himself as being a most loquacious everyman who just got lucky, signalling to us that we can achieve our dreams, whatever they may be, just as he has. As much as I do find that approach admirable, it also, frankly, irritates me because when Kevin Smith operates at is best, he demonstrates that he is a uniquely talented filmmaker and an often ingeniously gifted writer who possesses a storytelling voice unlike anyone else.
That is indeed what makes "Jay And Silent Bob Reboot" such a disappointment overall, ad one that inspired me to ask the question that began this review in the first place. Unlike "Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back," which had a go-for-broke velocity akin to the best of say John Landis' anarchic classics "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978) and "The Blues Brothers" (1980), "Jay And Silent Bob Reboot" is a downright lazy affair by comparison. The film carries (and barely at that) a sloppy, tossed off quality, as if Smith woke up, smoked a bowl, and impulsively decided to have a party at his house and then..filmed it.
There is a line of dialogue in the film that references Hal Needham's "The Cannonball Run" (1981), the Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise starring road race comedy that was a box office smash but notoriously pummeled by critics and is notable for being a barely scripted comedy that served as an excuse for the all star cast to hang out together and cajole each other...while making a fortune at the audience's expense.
Now, "Jay And Silent Bob Reboot" certainly doesn't feel remotely as mercenary but there is overall inside joke aesthetic that worked wonders for the prior film that just doesn't feel as inspired this time. Maybe since Smith, who had been working quite diligently with creating both a "Mallrats 2" and"Clerks III," both of which have hit road blocks, felt some sense of frustration or defeat with getting two passion projects off the ground, that he just funneled whatever residual energy into getting something...anything made that could just exist as a way to hang out and reunite with old friends, both real and invented, plus throw a bone to his fans. And since Jay and Silent Bob are his most recognizable creations...what the hell...
Yeah...it really didn't feel more impassioned that that.
It is not that he has seemingly lost any affection for his own cinematic universe or the fans that have supported him for over 25 years. It's also not that he possesses a lack of ideas either as he does throw quite a bit at Jay and Silent Bob during their latest adventure including the requisite character and celebrity cameos, a KKK cross burning, Russian spies, a multi-cultural quartet of pot smoking teenage girls who have formulated their own sub-culture of Fatherless .daughters, Kevin Smith in the dual role of Silent Bob and a wildly exaggerated version of himself, Fred Armisen's soft-spoken but beleaguered Uber-esque driver (named Ride Me Now--wink wink nudge nudge..yawn) and even more. But instead of being tightly woven together in the screenplay, it all feels like a drug addled stream of (barely) consciousness, making the entire film feel like a lengthy "and then this happened" escapade, which may be great for Smith and his friends. Yet, for the rest of us...
Now, not everything is wasteful within "Jay And Silent Bob Reboot." First of all, there is Jason Mewes' performance, which remains as full throttle and as committed as it has ever been. But, there are a couple of scenes that cut through the hazy noise and offered something surprisingly touching, poignant and regretful regarding his discovery of having a daughter. Perhaps he tapped into his own real life struggles with addiction, his longtime friendship with Kevin Smith and the birth of his real life daughter (a little one who makes an appearance in the film), but whatever it was, he went considerably deeper than he ever had or even needed to and arrived at some moments that were downright sincere and unquestionably moving.
Beyond that, as Brodie, Jason Lee has a pitch perfect monologue about the differences between remakes and reboots set within his comic book store, which has moved from its prior location to the site of a slowly dying mall, an especially sharp cultural critique which has the brilliance of showcasing the struggles of a small business owner trying to stay alive in the 21st century. Additionally, his monologue also has the sly undercurrent of privileged White male animosity towards the more multi-cultural qualities that have emerged in the otherwise White male driven comic book and comic book film genres.
Finally, after all of these years, it was wonderful to witness a fine coda to "Chasing Amy" and both Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams) both appear to give us an update on their lives, mostly arriving in a lengthy and again, touching, monologue delivered earnestly by Affleck.
These sequences showcase the level to which Kevin Smith's writing and filmmaking can rise when he wishes to do so and for that, this is why the film as a whole was such a disappointment for me. I was disappointed because I know Kevin Smith can do better. And I know he can do better because he has done better. And no matter how much he talks himself down, I know he IS better than that.
So, does the world need another Jay and Silent Bob anything? If Kevin Smith gets that fire in the belly, where he writes and directs to his very best, then certainly. But just making one for the fans and coasting on their affection to do so isn't gonna cut it next time.
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