rod526
Joined Jul 2001
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rod526's rating
The best thing to be said for this movie is that it runs only 102 minutes. And even that was about 40 minutes too long. There was nothing new or refreshing in the story. It has been done many times before, and usually better. The so-called surprises in the movie are all obvious after the first 15 minutes.
One of the first things that I noticed in the story was the fact that Ben Affleck's character (Ollie Trinke) wears a single pair of jeans that neither fade nor become worn over an 8 year period. But if the jeans were as stiff as the wearer's acting, they naturally would not show wear and tear. Affleck must have been thinking of better days when he was plodding through his character's life. Affleck's buddy, Matt Damon, makes a cameo appearance in the picture as an advertising executive. The picture would have been much more palatable if Ben and Matt had exchanged roles. There were, however, a few bright spots in the movie.
Raquel Castro played precocious Gertie Trinke with a good bit of wit and aplomb. She was very reminiscent of Mara Wilson's character in Matilda. Both had the ability to portray a child that you wanted to slap but that was too cute for you to do so.
Stephen Root (Greenie) and Mike Starr (Block) were there for the comic relief in the story. The only problem was that they were never allowed to fulfill that task. Their characters were under-developed and wasted. Their interplay with and support of George Carlin's character (Pop) was a resource that should have been mined for a lot more than it was. Liv Tyler was convincing as the love interest to Affleck's character but by the time that interest begins to take shape, you don't care about Ollie or his plight.
Some of the best lines and moments in the story were delivered by Betty Aberlin as Gertie's teacher. I attended the showing with a teacher who commented on the fact that Betty's lines and actions were the essence of some of the things that teachers often wish they could say or do.
Briefly, if it is raining and you have nothing else to do and have free tickets to see Jersey Girl, see it. Otherwise, pass on this one.
One of the first things that I noticed in the story was the fact that Ben Affleck's character (Ollie Trinke) wears a single pair of jeans that neither fade nor become worn over an 8 year period. But if the jeans were as stiff as the wearer's acting, they naturally would not show wear and tear. Affleck must have been thinking of better days when he was plodding through his character's life. Affleck's buddy, Matt Damon, makes a cameo appearance in the picture as an advertising executive. The picture would have been much more palatable if Ben and Matt had exchanged roles. There were, however, a few bright spots in the movie.
Raquel Castro played precocious Gertie Trinke with a good bit of wit and aplomb. She was very reminiscent of Mara Wilson's character in Matilda. Both had the ability to portray a child that you wanted to slap but that was too cute for you to do so.
Stephen Root (Greenie) and Mike Starr (Block) were there for the comic relief in the story. The only problem was that they were never allowed to fulfill that task. Their characters were under-developed and wasted. Their interplay with and support of George Carlin's character (Pop) was a resource that should have been mined for a lot more than it was. Liv Tyler was convincing as the love interest to Affleck's character but by the time that interest begins to take shape, you don't care about Ollie or his plight.
Some of the best lines and moments in the story were delivered by Betty Aberlin as Gertie's teacher. I attended the showing with a teacher who commented on the fact that Betty's lines and actions were the essence of some of the things that teachers often wish they could say or do.
Briefly, if it is raining and you have nothing else to do and have free tickets to see Jersey Girl, see it. Otherwise, pass on this one.
I just recently saw this film and enjoyed it thoroughly. It was not what I had expected. So many of the "freeze 'em" films take a comic or campy approach. But this film tries to deal with the actual problems that could arise if a person were able to disappear and then reappear some 30 years later. A nice treatment of the question.