Jay & Bob contre-attaquent

It's almost impossible to believe that this film is from the self same Kevin Smith who wrote and directed Clerks. Gone is the biting wit and odd charm of that film, and in its place, big-budget pointlessness and a dozen more dick jokes. The many cameo appearances of characters from the other movies which comprise the extended 'New Jersey Trilogy' (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and the woeful Dogma) serve only to remind the viewer just how good - or even average - Smith used to be. Indeed, whatever it was that made his work so individual and enjoyable was clearly lost some time ago.

Directorially, the 'post-modern' elements (several actors playing dual roles) are fairly well-handled, though presumably quite confusing for those who haven't seen earlier entries in the series. Unfortunately, however, Smith's usual lack of visual awareness and style is once more in evidence. In Clerks it didn't matter: the script was so tight that the primitive direction was irrelevant, but here, with hardly any gags hitting the mark (special mention for Mark Hamill's spectacularly unfunny cameo) it's extremely noticeable.

The acting too, is of a poor standard with too many lines and jokes fluffed, though Jason Mewes' usual one-note performance (essentially playing a toned-down version of himself, by all accounts) works well here. All in all, more puerile and less funny than its predecessors, though foul-mouthed children, stoners and idiots may take to it more than most.

Kevin Smith's previous movies always seemed to be something of a mixed bag. Whether ambitious thematically, ("Dogma", "Chasing Amy"), or outright comedy, ("Mallrats"), the movies as a whole were less satisfactory than their many very funny parts. The sporadic appearances of the second string character duo of Jay and Silent Bob were always a welcome event.

The big question was whether this 2001 styled Laurel and Hardy, when promoted to center stage, could carry a movie. The answer much to my surprise was a resounding yes. Smith outdoes himself, producing an exceptional comedy. It's consistently inventive, with surprises, in jokes and many cameos from Smith regulars, all who seem to be genuinely having a ball. Never has irreverence and bad language been done with so much charm.

Those who disliked Smith's previous works would do well to stay away, they are unlikely to be converted. But for fans, Smith really does deliver the goods, in a big way.

I was totally baffled by reading that certain gay groups took offence to this movie. It would seem to me a total misreading as well as a great deficiency in the humor department. Apart from the fact that Smith lampoons all and sundry, it actually struck me as a particularly gay friendly movie. The fact that a gay character sums the movie up as one big gay joke should be taken as a compliment more than anything else.

It's clear that this brings Smith's cycle to a close. He couldn't have wished for a better ending.

Kevin Smith proved with J.S.B.S.B. that he is no longer just a glorified independent film maker. In past films, Kevin Smith seemed to have a limited appeal, mostly among arm-chair directors (such as myself)who had become jaded with the Hollywood film industry, but with his slap-stick-like middle finger to the movie industry he seems to have branched out and struck a note with the "MTV audience" (10 to 16 year olds). Smith's grade-school humor, delivered mostly by Jay, is nothing new to previous movies, but with the focus on Jay & Silent Bob this humor became more evident AND more inviting to a younger audience.

Nonetheless, Smith has not alienated his core audience who are, "...over and underweight guys who can't get laid." (See Holden McNeil in "Chasing Amy"). The simple visual affects, as in his past movies, are FAR overshadowed by the fantastic dialogue he writes which has Hollywood stars chomping at the bit to deliver. If anything, the only disappointment was a very thin plot (OK, Mallrats: Had a plot, no one ever said it was a good one). But as he did in Mallrats, for what J.S.B.S.B. is lacking in plot, Smith sure as hell made up for it in laughs.

This movie junkie gives "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" a 9 out of 10.. .let's just hope what Chris Rock says in the movie doesn't come true. See the movie and you'll get what I mean.

The movie has its moments, but it's just a hodge podge of sometimes clever (sometimes not) walk-on cameos, a road trip (which is a poor screen writing trick to fill a weak plot with 30-40 minutes of loose gags), silly subplots and weak "ha-ha" gags breaking the fourth wall.

Half the movie is an insult to people who can best be described as The Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons (myself included). Half of the "Joke" is ripping on his own fanbase, and any average person who critiques him negatively over the net. This cheazy ploy went out with low-brow comics ripping on Siskel and Ebert (real critics), but now it's like the Slapshot scene where they go into the audience and beat-up their fans.

Except Slap Shot was funny.

Maybe I'm old (I'm Kevin Smith's Age). But F just isn't funny anymore Be clever. Why was Scooby Doo in the movie? It was a waste of 10 minutes that did nothing to the plot. Couldn't he tie that in somehow humously at the end like, those kids show up to expose the jewel theifs, who end up being 3 cranky old men who woulda gotten away with it. And the love interest... we won't even get into that believability.

Anyhow. Kevin, if you ever wanna come over and beat me up, drop me a note and I'll give ya my address.

Stoners Jay and Bob spend their time selling drugs in front of a grocery store and hanging out. When they are introduced to the world of the internet they discover that a film version is being made of the comic book that they were the inspiration for. Not only that but people are on the message boards insulting and slandering them. In order to stop the slander Jay and Bob decide to travel to Hollywood to stop the filming and therefore stop the internet discussions. A cross-country adventure ensues that includes stolen monkeys, international jewel thieves, the scooby-doo gang, a star wars confrontation, many many cameos and a million rude jokes.

The plot for this film is very, very weak. However for the most part you're laughing so hard you don't care how thin it is. It's only the middle section where the Scooby Doo bit and the jewel thief bit come in, where the jokes are less funny and the plot is more silly where you feel it. That said it's still really funny - Jay's desire to steal/liberate a monkey in order to get a woman to sleep with him is hilarious ("we steal monkeys all the time in Jersey" "If I'd known stealing monkeys would get me sex, I'd have been doing it since I was 7!") as is his rant on behalf of C.L.I.T.!

The humour is all of one type. If you know these characters from the other Red Bank films then you'll know if you'll like them or not. If you don't know them already then some of the jokes here will go over your head - there's lots of in-jokes and references to actions and characters in the other films that you won't understand (although some are still funny). Some of the references go too far and aren't funny - one joke in particular where the characters say something like "who'd pay to see a movie like that?" or "I hate it when you get roped into a movie by a friend" and then look out at the audience, isn't funny the first time or the 5th time. However most of the jokes are really funny thanks to a) Mewes's wonderfully un-PC, obscene dealer and b) Smith's great writing.

As I said some of the scenes are funny for 5 seconds but soon die out (the scooby doo bit gets dry pretty quick) but the majority is great. Standout bits include the monkey stuff, the whole Miramax-ribbing climax, the Phantom Menace skit and Chris Rock's angry black director (very similar to Hooper in Chasing Amy). The focus on sex related jokes makes for a film you're either going like or hate - and I loved it. Yes too many characters from other film are shoved in unfunny scenes (Affleck's Holden is poor and Lee is given nothing to work with in the role of Brodie that he was fantastic in in Mallrats), but the majority of it is great.

There are too many cameos to mention but nearly all of them are funny - high points include Chris Rock who missed out on making a black Sesame Street (he was going to call it N.W.P. - you work it out!), Carrie Fisher as the nun who lives by the book, Jason Biggs lamenting his pie-humping typecasting, Mark Hamill in the star wars spoof, the director and cast of Good Will Hunting poking major fun at Miramax and money grabbing sequels and Wes Craven directing Shannon Doherty in Scream 4 in a bang-on swipe at the Scream movies. The main acting pressure was all on Mewes as Jay, as Bob doesn't speak enough to carry the film, and he succeeds. Here his dirty mouth is given plenty of funny situations and good lines to work with and it ensures that his good performance carries through the whole thing and stops him getting annoying.

Overall this is one funny film and a very good way to say goodbye to these characters. Dry is some places, brilliant in others this isn't to everyone's taste but will please Smith fans easily. It's not The Godfather but it does what it's supposed to and does it well.