AICN Jersey Girl Review

Hi Harry - I’m Capnwatsisname. Saw a screening of Jersey Girl Thursday and have been mulling it over. Some thoughts below - slight spoilers, but nothing a previous reviewer didn’t reveal.

Lopez does not ruin the film. I really had no more trouble with her than I did Affleck - I just had more time to get used to him. I actually kind of liked her after a while, although I was mastering the zen of selective recall to make it through her scenes without applying all the media baggage of the main characters’ highly publicized real lives. She actually reminded me just a little of the playful moments with Joey Adams (button nose and all), and when we finally get a long enough slice of Affleck & Lopez later in their marriage to gage their relationship, there’s a couple of scenes that establish at least the implication of a life together. Mostly it’s just well-written-but-universal married-people talk. It’s just not quite enough to appreciate the characters or the relationship by the time you need to be able to do so.
The lack of development with Lopez’s character is, I think, most of the film’s weakness. Without any info about this film other than it being a J-Lo B-Lo project, I spent the first part of it trying to figure out when the other shoe is going to drop. There must be a good reason for Lopez to be in this film, considering her price-tag, the media hype, and Smith’s reputation. There is such a significant lack of information about her character, I guessed we were headed into a hidden mafia family/lesbian/divine identity twist (except that I couldn’t imagine an attempt to repackage Chasing Amy - which I loved and think is a stronger film, just to put my comments in context), and continued to view her character with suspicion until I realized we were really watching a film about a single Dad. But when Affleck is (and I think he worked hard at this) expressing his loss, I felt distanced from the emotions because I didn’t ever quite get the character he loves or their relationship. Okay, he loves her, but why should I?

Jason Biggs creates a similar challenge - I recognize him immediately, and assume he will be a major character (I think he was even in the promotional material), but his relationship with the plot and characters is confusing. What I know about his relationship with Affleck is that Affleck doesn’t fire Biggs in a friendly exchange between superior and subordinate, but that doesn’t establish why this character would be part of the mourning process later. His character does play a part in the film, but it’s a little distracting. While the film manages to keep us from getting lost in an unnecessary number of characters, you’re kind of missing the context for a few key players (who also are big names).

As far as abandoning the Askewniverse, I don’t think that’s totally fair. The Damon/Lee cameo works for me; it’s definitely not there for general audience appreciation (I wonder if most will find it distracting because they’ll think it’s an Affleck/Damon inside joke). There’s just enough self-reference to keep Smith in the picture. You’ve still got New Jersey, a video store, porn. . . heck, Ben Affleck. I’m curious about the placement of films in the video store - could be random, but I kept looking for dvd commentary fodder.

I went into the film waiting for the Mewes/Smith-ex-machina appearance, but by the time I got the hang of what’s going on I realized they probably weren’t showing up, and that was okay. Smith’s films are not just a cartoon strip about Jay & Silent Bob, and the setting & people heís dealing with here do not naturally co-exist with the weed inspired, idiot-savante-spirituality of those characters. It would have been too much a jump, and it’s great to let these well-developed characters work out their own problems. However, I don’t think Smith’s strength is writing the needed turning points. After several brilliant exchanges about the film’s primary themes, and a great deal of respect for the fluidity and messiness of life, Affleck throws us a couple of cheesy lines that make for a weak bridge into resolution (for some reason I think of Pee Wee Herman: “I’m so inspired, I’m going to start a paper route right now!”). His monologues drag compared to what Smith can accomplish in 5 minutes between two characters in a diner (why the recognizably Hollywood-lot diner set, though?).

I hear that Lopez is hurt by the negative response the early screenings are laying on her, and that in meetings with Smith there’s talk about some changes. There may be a level at which he’s developing some skills for mass consumption through this experience. But right now there’s a “no reshoots for Jersey Girl” notice on Smith’s website, and I applaud him for this. I don’t think J-Lo should be left on the cutting-room floor, but I do think we need a little warning as to what we’re headed in for from the marketing department. Remember Executive Decision (maybe you were smart enough to skip it) where Segal dies in the first 5 minutes? You just keep wasting energy waiting for him to surprise you in a save-the-day return, because he’s a big name and this is an action flick. Maybe just a little more help from editing. It may still be a weakness in the final cut, but her character is important - it’d be sad to lose the impact of Affleck’s previous relationship and his daughter’s namesake. I’m not saying much about the daughter, but she’s central, and she’s good. Well written and extremely well cast.
The centerpiece of this film is the dialogue and the relationships. I expected over two hours, but I expected to feel it. I think it was brilliant - I ate up every conversation, believed and loved Affleck with his Dad and with Liv Tyler (whose character I really liked - I hope we don’t lose a second of her in the final cut). I think when Tyler shows up is when I start enjoying Affleck more. The little girl is fantastic. Smith does a brilliant job of giving us a sympathetic father-son relationship that’s neither dominated by clichÈd abandonment/lack of affection issues or older-and-wiser omniscient father syndrome. It’s like most actual relationships - you feel like you’re seeing it in a context of the whole lives of these people; the film doesn’t attempt to idealize and capture the entire meaning of that relationship in one climactic scene. I love the Tyler/Affleck relationship as well - it is paced in a way that is believable, doesn’t take over as an over-the-top love rescue, and it avoids clichÈ speeches when dealing with Affleck’s grief.

I partly really value this because most of the crap that’s passed for movies about relationships is completely worthless in terms of identifying with the characters or situations - they mostly just try to get us to buy in to the fantasy. I’ll take something from Kevin Smith even if I have to watch some not-my-top-10 actors say the lines.