Posted by Skippy at aip60-48.algonquincollege.com on September 01, 2001 at 08:21:12:
In Reply to: J&SBSB disappointments & questions of future VA posted by CRXman on September 01, 2001 at 04:52:11:
I too liked it, but didn't love it. I agree that Mallrats was a funnier flick (though J&SBSB was certainly funny). I think I've got slightly different reasons for my all-knowing judgement than CRXMan.
What made Mallrats so gosh-darn funny? Timing.
It's that signature Kevin Smith, rapid-fire timing. Clerks had it, and so did Chasing Amy, but it was really polished to an art form in Mallrats.
I remember from reading the WWWBoard that the timing of Mallrats all came from Kevin's style of directing, and that it wasn't always easy for the actors to nail.
J&SBSB has great story ideas, great jokes, great actors, and a great director. So why isn't it a "great" flick (though it's a good flick, don't get me wrong)?
Timing.
It's hard to blame the actors or the director for this flaw, however. The flick was basically a series of cameos. When you have some uber-famous actor who squeezes one or two days out of their busy schedule to do some quick cameo that's only gonna last 2 minutes on-screen, you can't really expect them to put the work in to really bring the character to life. They don't have the time to "Learn How To Act Using The Askew Method".
Jay & Bob were stellar, of course. So were Randal & Dante, Hooper, Joey & Renee, Ben & Matt, Lee, and all the other Askew alumni. Even Shannon Doherty was good. It's because these guys all know what "Askew-acting" is all about.
The rest of the folks in the movie were funny, in their own way. But they weren't "Askew-acting". It was like they were acting with an foreign accent. They just didn't quite fit.
I hope the next flick has fewer big name actors in it. It's WAY easier to sink into a story and really believe the characters when you haven't seen the actors a million times before. That's another reason why Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy were so good. We were seeing these actors largely for the first time.
I also thought the breaking of the "fourth wall" was funny at the beginning of the flick, but the joke got old after a while.
Derris as the unruly cop was awesome. I missed Steve-Dave's goatee. I'm on the fence about Banky and Hooper's relationship. Ben & Matt mocking their own careers (not to mention Wes Craven and Gus Van Sant) nearly made me pee, I was laughing so hard.
Then again, I'm just a sycophantic fan-boy who's spent WAY too much money at the stash website and stockpiles 16mm film stock in his fridge but never seems to get around to shooting any of it. I could very well be talking right out of my ass.
Anyhoo, I'm looking forward for the next masterpiece from the mind of Smith.
(BTW: I was the ONLY one in the theatre to wait until the end of the credits. I'm pretty proud of that. I didn't even know if there was gonna be anything at the end of the credits. I just kinda assumed there would be. Where's my no-prize?)