Jersey Girl (2004)

When writer/director Kevin Smith’s Jersey Girl was released in 2004, I can imagine that some of the die-hard fans of his previous View Askew movies (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back) were greatly disappointed, while others thought it was the best film he made so far. Jersey Girl maybe left some of his hardcore fans scratching their heads, wondering why Smith traded in what some may refer to as his “Bread-and-Butter,” (raunchy-but-smart comedies heavily seasoned with “dick and fart jokes,” not to mention Jay and Silent Bob) for a more heartwarming film inspired by Smith’s own experiences becoming a father about how single fatherhood changes a formerly selfish man.

Ben Affleck gives a really terrific performance as Ollie Trinke, a NYC publicist and workaholic who appears on the surface has it all—a high-paying job that he loves and that he excels at, a wife that he adores, and a baby on the way. The only problem is that Ollie’s job always comes first; in fact, he puts more focus on his job than his impending fatherhood or his wife Gertrude (Jennifer Lopez).

After Gertrude tragically dies while giving birth to their daughter (and her namesake) Gertie, a grief-striken Ollie finds it too painful to even hold his infant daughter Gertie and opts to bury himself in work instead. He returns to New Jersey to stay with his father Bart (the always incredible late, great George Carlin) and, for a time, relies on him to be the sole caregiver of Gertie. A frustrated Ollie even loses his job after an infamous incident where he disses both a group of reporters at a press conference and Will Smith, all in one breath.

Then Gertie and Ollie have a “talk” in one of the film’s most moving scenes. Though the month-old infant Gertie can only smile and doesn’t even understand what he is saying, Ollie tearfully pours his heart out to his baby about losing her mother, and he vows then and there to be the best father he can be to her.

Years pass and Gertie (played by Raquel Castro in an absolutely wonderful performance in this, her film debut)grows up to be an incredibly funny and smart 9 year-old, who is daddy’s little girl and the apple of Ollie’s eye. Ollie enjoys an unexpected friendship and a little flirtation with graduate student and video store clerk Maya (a groovy Liv Tyler, fresh off of The Lord of the Rings trilogy). Ollie even joins his father in working for the borough.

But Ollie soon begins to yearn for the hustle and bustle of his former life New York and gets an interview with another publicity firm—scheduled for the night of Gertie’s school show. Gertie doesn’t want to move away from her school and her new family, and there is a confrontation scene between Gertie and Ollie (that parallels the same argument he had with his wife ten years ago), and heated words are exchanged. This scene just rips your heart out.

However, while waiting for his interview, Ollie has an epiphany thanks to Will Smith (in a cameo role as himself) in the waiting room, and he realizes just how much he loves his daughter-and he makes it back to New Jersey just in time to join Gertie on stage for her school show. Though Jersey Girl’s finale has a happy ending, it’s not an ending where every situation is put right and every problem is solved.

I must say that I really enjoyed Jersey Girl. I loved all of his previous View Askew comedies, but this one was still distinctively a Kevin Smith movie that just showed a different side of him as a filmmaker. I mean, every great filmmaker wants to do something altogether different from his trademark films, and Smith succeeds.

The entire ensemble cast was great. I’m not the biggest fan of Ben Affleck, but I was really impressed with him as Ollie. George Carlin is great, as always. Liv Tyler and Jason Biggs also turn in fine performances. The cameos by Will Smith, Jason Lee, and Matt Damon were highlights as well. But to be honest, the actor I was blown away by was little Raquel Castro as Gertie, who stole the show from her seasoned co-stars every time she appeared onscreen.

And I can honestly say that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez do have genuine chemistry together in Jersey Girl. And they were really good together on-screen. They only appear together in the first 12 minutes of Jersey Girl, but those 12 short minutes were 5000% better than the entire length of Gigli (YES, I did see Gigli…in the theater…on opening weekend…it sucked ass).

Smith states on the commentary that there is an extended cut of Jersey Girl, with about an extra 30 minutes not included in the original theatrical release of the movie. He also mentions that it would probably be released sometime in the next couple of years. I hope he follows through because I’d really like to see what was left on the cutting room floor, especially the scenes with Bennifer (which were rumored to have been trimmed due to the recent critical and commercial failure of Gigli).

Unfortunately, there are zero of those deleted scenes as extras on the DVD. But there are two groovy commentaries, a couple of Making-Of featurettes and, as the best extra feature (IMHO), the complete collection of "Roadside Attractions," hilarious skits that originally appeared on The Tonight Show of Smith’s visits to out-of-the-way tourist attractions.

In summary, I’ve been a big fan of Kevin Smith before Jersey Girl, I’m an even bigger fan of Smith’s because of Jersey Girl. What can I say? I’m just a big fan of Kevin Smith.