Jay and
Silent Bob
Strike Back

by Gareth Von Kallenbach

A few years ago, an unknown writer/director by the name of Kevin Smith financed his first film by selling his collection of comic books and maxing out all of his credit cards. The film was Clerks. It gained critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival and became the surprise hit of 1994.

Clerks was about a day in the life of a group of people in a small New Jersey town, and it introduced film audiences to the duo of Jay and Silent Bob. Jay (Jason Mewes), and Silent Bob (played by the director himself, Kevin Smith), are two stoners who spend their days outside a convenience store dealing drugs, chasing women and dispensing wisdom. Besides drugs, women and money, their motivators include the Star Wars films, heavy metal, and comic books. The two characters became very popular with audiences, and appeared in Smith's subsequent films - Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma - often stealing the scenes they were in from the rest of the cast.

For all things there is a season, and having just turned thirty, Smith has decided that it's time to move to other challenges and leave Jay and Silent Bob behind. He did, however, want to give the boys a grand send-off, so he has rounded up many of the cast members from the previous films for his latest effort, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

The film opens with Jay and Bob doing what they do best, hanging out in front of a store selling pot to the local kids. Jay does the talking, since he sees himself as the brains behind the pair. Bob only speaks in rare instances, but when he does, he often says something very profound that speaks of a wisdom well hidden by his lifestyle.

Jay and Bob go to visit their good friend Brodie (Jason Lee) who has retired from the talk show that he gained at the end of Mallrats to return home and run a comics store. It is here that Jay and Silent Bob learn that there is a movie being planned based on their comic book alter egos, Bluntman and Chronic. Thinking that they have a big payday coming to them, the boys head off to see Holden (Ben Affleck), who did a comic based on the two for many years. They believe that it is Holden who is behind the film deal. But their dreams of riches are given a jolt when they learn that Holden sold the rights to his former partner, Banky (Jason Lee again, this time as his character from Chasing Amy) and that if they want money they need to check with him.

It is at this point that the two first learn of the internet. Holden shows them that the film is expected to do well, but that there are those on the internet who think Jay and Silent Bob are stupid characters and are highly critical of them in online postings. Desperate to save their good names and thus avoid losing any action from the ladies, Jay and Silent Bob set off to Hollywood to stop the making of the film, as shooting begins in just three days.

The picture now becomes a road movie with many celebrity cameos, ranging from Carrie Fisher to Wes Craven to George Carlin. Before long, the boys are in the company of four lovely animal activists who are heading to Denver to free test animals. Jay becomes smitten with one of them, played by Shannon Elizabeth. All is not as it seems, and Jay and Silent Bob are soon on the run from the authorities and a crazed Wildlife Marshall (Will Ferrell).

The film, as one would expect from Smith, is very bawdy. No bodily function is left unmentioned. The brutal honesty of the language is part of the film's charm - this is how Jay and Silent Bob are, and they are content being themselves, no matter what the circumstances. The supporting cast seems to be having a great time, poking fun at the movies, themselves, and their past work.

While not destined to win any awards for acting, directing, or story, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back sticks to the formula that made Clerks so much fun - recognizable characters, funny jokes and situations, and a light hearted attitude where nothing is taken too seriously and no subject is taboo.Smith brilliantly includes many characters from his past films in the movie, which brings "The New Jersey series," as it is sometimes called, to satisfying closure.We see that many of the characters, no matter how minor, are going on with their lives, and while things may have changed for them, the people and friends from their past still hold a special place in their hearts. The same could be said for the actors in Smith's films as well - it is unlikely that they will be forgotten by the viewers anytime soon. Smith says this is the last outing for Jay and Silent Bob, but the door was left slightly open for a return of the two loveable losers someday.

©2001 Gareth Von Kallenbach
CineScene

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Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.