10 Eylül 2004 Cuma

DVD Review: JERSEY GIRL

Rating: PG-13



There are some movie and some directors that you are glad to share with all of your friends and family. Then there are others that you keep to yourself as "guilty pleasures." Kevin Smith has definitely been in that vein for me, since I first saw his film CLERKS during college. The writing was superlative, the characters sharp, and humor was amazing. The problem was the choice of topics were inappropriate for family situations. Anyone here who has read my posts for a while knows that I am conservative on moral issues, and Smith's penchant for jokes about bodily processes and sexual relations would be beyond the pale from anyone else. But somehow, he makes it past my defenses and makes me laugh every time. So while I have been a fan for a while, I have been unable to admit this fact openly to my mother or friends generally.



But finally, Kevin Smith has made a film that proves he is more than just off-color jokes. JERSEY GIRL is the story of Ollie Trinke, a press agent who is left a single father after his wife suddenly dies after giving birth to their first (and only) child. The stress of single fatherhood quickly takes its toll on Ollie's high-pressure job, and he winds up publicly insulting his most important client - Will Smith. He is fired and exiled from the hallowed streets of NYC to the humble streets of New Jersey to raise his daughter with his elderly father, and dream of a return to his former life. JERSEY GIRL is a sweet story about fatherhood, with both its sweet side and the hard responsibilities that it brings. It reflects on Smith's own (relatively) recent fatherhood, and his musings about what it would mean to be alone with a new life totally dependent upon him. The fact that his own father died shortly after the completion of the movie adds an extra note of sweetness to t!

he whole production.



And the best part (for me, not for the myriad of foul-mouthed Smith fans) is that this film is relatively clean. The language is not spotless, but it is kept to a PG-13 level, and the jokes are kept at the average level of a romantic comedy. The wit is less biting, but then it is also less painful at times. And again, this is the first Kevin Smith film that I could take my mother to without fear. This film is highly recommended.

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