Hey folks, Harry here with a very early look at Kevin Smith's JERSEY GIRL. Up until now, Kevin has had intimate basic friends only screenings of JERSEY GIRL, which I had heard really great word of mouth from. It seems that the pairing of Kevin and Vilmos Zsigmond has been a success in improving the overall visual palatte upon which Kevin has received so much criticism... Personally it never really got in the way for me, as I was listening to the story being told, which Kevin always does so well. Though I can't wait to see what Vilmos does for Kevin here. Without further ado, here's TruPhan....
Hey Harry,
Seventeen-year-old from Goodyear, AZ here, you can call me TruPhan.
Anyway, I’ve just gotten home from the mall Arizona Mills where Miramax held its test screening of Kevin Smith’s new flick, “Jersey Girl." Though the movie is still running a little more than two hours long, has some temporary soundtrack to fill scenes and montages, and is still a little discolored in parts, let me just say that Kevin Smith has always impressed me with his writing skills, and here they once again do not seize to awe. This is some of the best character work I’ve seen in a lead since Dante in “Clerks” or Affleck in “Chasing Amy.” Also, as he promised before, Smith has officially left behind all the fart, poo, stoner jokes, and much of the profanity from the former days of the Askewniverse, and now has become a fully matured writer. In addition, the growth in his direction and cinematography is AMAZING! To compare with “Clerks,” Smith has simply left the Indie look to become a true professional. Only a few times were things shot at an odd or confusing angle, and this is simply because they are shots that Smith has never even attempted before, but they still manage to get the point across.
Now for talking about the actual plot. The movie starts off with Ben Affleck playing Ollie, and hot shot publicist in New York in 1994, who is hosting a Christmas party where he meets Gertrude, who is played by Jennifer Lopez. To put it simply, Jennifer Lopez is horrendous for the first twenty minutes of what I saw. Her character was unbelievable, she lacked motivation, and most importantly, characterization. This is not just her fault, however. Smith’s writing is rushing the romance between Affleck and Lopez, having them meet, date, fall in love, sleep with each other, and meeting Affleck’s father who is played by George Carlin. All of the prior happens over the course of less than 24 hours! Yes, very forced and very unbelievable, and if it were up to me, I would cut all of her scenes.
Eventually, Lopez and Affleck get married and have a baby, and THIS is the real story. Lopez dies while giving birth to Gertrude, her and Affleck’s daughter and the story follows as we watch Affleck deal with the shock of his wife’s death, having to reprioritize his career with fatherhood, what it means to be a good father, etc. From here, the plot follows Affleck as he moves back to Jersey to become a street sweeper so that he can support and spend time with his daughter, eventually meeting Liv Tyler, a graduate student who cross-examines Affleck for renting porn, while his daughter is in the children’s section of the video store, in the interest of a research paper. Her character comes off a bit strong, and is obviously there to help Affleck as a character. Any more information about the plot and I’d give away the whole movie (like that Bruce Almighty review).
As far as performances go, Affleck is terrific, as well as the girl who plays his daughter when the story flashes to seven years after his wife’s death. He carries the movie very well and I can honestly say that this is the first time I’ve seen a notable performance from the man. I never thought I’d say that about the man.
Gertrude, the daughter, is fantastic, and she has very good chemistry with the rest of the cast.
George Carlin is in his most tame role ever as the loving grandfather, and no one could have done it better. The man has some real talent and charisma here, and nearly moved me to tears with one of his last lines of the movie (yeah, that’s right, Smith wrote and directed something that nearly made me cry.)
Also, Matt Damon and Jason Lee make an appearance that is erroneous, but fun for the fans.
The only noticable things that needed extreme improvement were scenes with Lopez - they all needed to be cut! Especially one with her daughter - you'll know it if they don't cut it.
All in all, I give it as it is 4 out of 5 stars.
TruPhan off.
