Posted by elisajv at prosser3-24.bentonrea.com on March 28, 2004 at 21:41:16:
In Reply to: Theater Reports, please posted by Kevin on March 28, 2004 at 09:54:40:
: Anyone go last night? What were the crowds (if any) like? Percentage of theater empty/full?
: Crowd reaction?
: I wish I could hit every screening across the country and do a Q&A...
I live in the middle of essentially nowhere. I saw Jersey Girl last night in Kennewick, Washington; metro-wise that would be 250 miles east of Seattle & Portland. The theater was three-fourths full, which is the usual here. I went to an early show (4:55)and most the crows was moms and young couples avoiding the high school children later. Everyone was "in" to the movie. When Jason Lee and Matt Damon had their scene, I heard one "middle-age mom" in the back go, "that's Jason Lee!" To me, that was surprising, thinking that no one knew here would know who Jason Lee was besides me.
The biggest reaction was in the scene where Ben Affleck's character screams back at Gertie. After the coment, it seemed like the entire audience collectively gasped. To me, that was an indication that we were vested in this flick, family and the outcome of Ollie and Gertie.
Also, I was surprised to hear people explaining to their friends the "Kevin Smith" factor: i.e. writer/director/Silent Bob & Clerks. If I had watched the flick in Seattle or even Spokane I would not have been surprised. However, the Tri-Cities (that would be: Kennewick/Richland and Pasco--think Hanford Nuclear Waste Facility) is an extremely conservative, pro-Bush sort of place, which doesn't usually think outside of the box. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the man who I consider to have captured my generation's language, habits, and auroa of social angst is in fact a well established Hollywood man amongst the baby jogger set. Congrats Kevin!