Jersey Girl (2004) Movie Review

Director Kevin Smith returns to the silver screen with a departure from his smart and stylized “View Askew” comedies. He has put his infamous alter-ego characters Jay & Silent Bob in mothballs but has also sounded his bugle to ring in some familiar faces he has worked with in the past.

In a bold step, Smith tries to lift himself out of the indie-comedy world and into a bittersweet dramatic family comedy. It is a risky career move and it almost pays off.

Smith’s latest project “Jersey Girl” finds New York publicist Ollie Trinke (Ben Affleck) at the height of his profession until a catastrophic event leaves Ollie a single father, homeless and jobless. Ollie is forced to move back to his old neighborhood and move in with his father (George Carlin). Ollie yearns to return to the limelight but in some ways over the years he is in the spotlight in one little girl’s eyes.

“Jersey Girl” in a lot of ways is a nice tender comedy about the love between a “suddenly” father and an ambitious daughter. But what bugged me about “Jersey Girl” was the extremely awkward insertion of a new love interest for the Affleck character. A video store clerk (Liv Tyler) who catches him renting an adult movie while his daughter is in the store. Then she proceeds to question him about his sexual activities for a thesis she is working on. Is that quite odd or is it just me?

I also had some problems with some of sentimental stuff between father, daughter and grandfather. It felt some what hollow in places. You know that emptiness feeling you have when reading a really cheesy Hallmark card.

I can’t say that I enjoyed Affleck in his role as Ollie. I couldn’t feel for the guy or understand his motives. There were a lot of scenes where I could have seen him abandon the daughter with his father. In some ways I was also expecting it. The film never really allows us to grow enough with Ollie to see his side or how he struggles with his responsibility. As the film progresses and shifts focus from Ollie onto his daughter and eventually Maya, the video store girl, we seem to be lost to what or who Ollie Trinke is.

In a lot of ways I felt that Kevin Smith more evolved with his vastly underrated “Chasing Amy”. He was so masterful in addressing complex issues and also bringing on the laughs. “Jersey Girl” is cute in places and Smith does a wonderful job in coaxing a deeper side out of George Carlin as the grandfather but for the most part I felt internally it was a struggle between two Kevin Smiths even if he never did appear as Silent Bob. “Jersey Girl” is more of a journey than a destination for Smith.

I admire Smith for his wanting to expand his horizons. His next project, “The Green Hornet” (if that is what it is), has to be a complete departure. He needs to reinvent the wheel and if I were him I would look to Warren Beatty’s “Dick Tracy” for help. Come on Smith, be bolder. We are all cheerin’ for you!

So Says the Soothsayer