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DIMENSION

MOVIE INFO
Director:
Kevin Smith
Cast:
Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Shannon Elizabeth, Eliza Dushku, Ali Larter, Will Ferrell, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee
Screenplay:
Kevin Smith

Tagline:
Hollywood had it coming
Box Office:
Budget
$22 million.
Opening Weekend
$11.018 million on 2765 screens.
Domestic Gross
$30.059 million.
MPAA:
Rated R for nonstop crude and sexual humor, pervasive strong language, and drug content.

DVD DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio:
English Uncompressed 5.1
English Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English

Runtime: 104 min.
Price: $29.99
Release Date: 9/19/2006

Bonus:
• Audio Commentary from Director Kevin Smith, Producer Scott Mosier, and Actor Jason Mewes


PURCHASE
DVD
Music Soundtrack

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EQUIPMENT
Panasonic 50" TH-50PZ77U 1080p Plasma Monitor; Sony STR-DG1200 7.1 Channel Receiver; Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player using HDMI outputs; Michael Green Revolution Cinema 6i Speakers (all five); Kenwood 1050SW 150-watt Subwoofer.

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Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back [Blu-Ray] (2001)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (May 14, 2010)

As I’ve noted elsewhere, I must admit that I developed a knee-jerk opposition to the work of Kevin Smith when he emerged on the scene with 1994’s Clerks. Years later, I’m not terribly sure why I felt that way; as I realized when I finally saw it in 1999, Clerks is actually a very fine film. But I thought what I thought; at least I ultimately was able to recognize the error of my opinions.

Since then, I’ve turned into a moderate Smith fan. I like his flicks - most of them, at least - and appreciate his humor. 1999’s Dogma was the first Smith flick I saw theatrically; I experienced its predecessors only on DVD. However, I became more of a fan after that fall 1999 screening of Dogma, which means that 2001’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back enjoyed another unique distinction: it was the first Smith flick I actually looked forward to seeing.

Man, was it a disappointment! While I thought the movie had its good parts, I felt a lot of it just plodded along with little purpose or momentum. It seemed to try too hard to be wacky and clever, and much of it simply appeared to fall flat. It wasn’t as bad as the nearly-humor-free Mallrats, but I found it to be a weak film.

However, I knew that I needed to see it again, if just because I really did have pretty high expectations for Silent Bob. Many times in the past, I’ve been less than enamored with movies I hotly anticipated. As such, it seemed possible that this one would fall into that club.

Indeed, that was exactly the case. Now that I’ve seen Silent Bob a few times, I definitely feel more positively toward the flick. The cutesy title of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back isn’t just another gratuitous Star Wars reference on the part of Smith, however. It actually makes a lot of sense within the context of the plot, such that it is. Silent Bob isn’t exactly what we’d consider to be a story-heavy movie, but it does feature a loose narrative.

After a brief prologue in which we see how Jay (Jason Mewes) and Bob (Smith) came to know each other, we find a tragic event in the boys’ lives. Tired of their shenanigans in front of the Quick Stop, video clerk Randall (Jeff Anderson) sics the cops on them and also puts out a restraining order against them. This means Jay and Bob can no longer loiter there, which renders their lives meaningless.

However, they soon adopt a new cause when they stop by the comic book store owned by Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee). He points out that Miramax is making a movie based on the “Bluntman and Chronic” comic book. Its lead characters are in turn based on Jay and Silent Bob, but they’ve not seen a nickel of the Hollywood moolah. After a visit to “Bluntman” creator Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck), they discover that he no longer holds the rights; he sold them to former “Bluntman” inker Banky Edwards (Jason Lee).

Holden also turns them on to the Internet, where within movie forums they discover scads of negative comments about their alter egos. Enraged by this, they swear to stop the film so no one will make more nasty statements about their fictional selves.

And so begins the road movie. Jay and Silent Bob take to the highways and eventually hook up with a team of sexy bad girls who allegedly form an animal rights organization. Jay falls in love with Justice (Shannon Elizabeth), who tries to keep the boys out of harm’s way, but the others - Sissy (Eliza Dushku), Chrissy (Ali Larter), and Missy (Jennifer Schwalbach, Smith’s real-life wife) - force her to sucker them into being patsies.

In time, the boys steal an orangutan, Jay sees the love of his life explode, they run from the law, and eventually make it to Hollywood. There they attempt to enact their plan. A ridiculous amount of shenanigans ensue.

“Ridiculous” was probably the best word to describe Silent Bob, at least based on my first screening. I thought the movie started really well but became bogged down with silliness. It seemed just a little too gratuitously absurd, and some of the gags got old quickly; for example, on a few occasions, the performers will make comments along the lines of “who’d want to see that?” and they’ll slowly turn to face the audience. This worked once, but Smith milked it too much.

However, most of the parts I thought were dopey seemed less egregious during the second screening. I could still live without the orangutan bits, and the movie does seem too long. Smith could have chopped out parts of it and made it tighter, though as we’ll see in the extended deleted scenes area, he already did lose tons of footage.

I could criticize Silent Bob for its self-indulgence, but that would miss the point. The film is supposed to be self-indulgent; as Smith notes in the audio commentary, it’s one of the most “inside” films ever created, as you have to know four other flicks for it to make much sense. Silent Bob made about $30 million, which may not sound like much, but considering that the movie was essentially a cult film meant as a form of love letter to Smith’s biggest fans, even that modest total seems surprisingly high.

Silent Bob was likely aided in that regard by its truly star-studded cast. We get Hollywood hunks like regular Smith collaborators Affleck and Matt Damon and the aforementioned sexy babes as well as folks like Chris Rock, Seann William Scott, and about a trillion cameos. Silent Bob features so many actors who return from earlier View Askew productions that the absences occasionally become more notable that than the actual participants.

Anyway, all the actors are very game to live up - or down - to the movie’s irreverent and absurd tone. Affleck proves more than willing to make himself the brunt of many jokes; you’ll rarely see an actor more willing to mock his own repertoire, though Armageddon goes surprisingly unmentioned. The others have a lot of fun as well, though few so directly laugh at their own work. Chris Rock stands out as hilariously race-conscious director, and most of the performers make their usually brief appearances count.

Perhaps the most impressive acting comes from Jason Mewes, however. No, he doesn’t display a great deal of range - De Niro need not worry - but if you watch all the View Asked flicks, you’ll see a very definite positive progression for his talents. He made the most improvement with Dogma, but here he demonstrates a reasonable capacity to lead a film. Mewes has gone from being an annoying one-note stoner gag to becoming a fairly engaging and compelling presence.

Silent Bob virtually begs you to watch it repeated times. It packs in so many pop culture references that it seems unlikely you’ll get them all the first time - or the second, probably. Some of these hit the mark, while others fall flat; the Scooby Doo bit seems pointless to me. Still, most of them work reasonably well, and they add something to the flick. Much of the time, these kinds of pieces exist just to seem clever, whereas Smith builds them into the film more effectively and neatly.

The film also provides some of the most gleefully raunchy dialogue you’re likely to hear. When we first see adult Jay and Bob, the former performs a rap that consists almost entirely of profanity. Most movies of this sort just seem vulgar and unpleasant, but Smith raises the genre to an art form. There’s a fun spark to what he does, and that comes across. It’s simultaneously gratuitous and essential, if that makes any sense.

While it’s not my favorite View Askew production, Silent Bob stands above its predecessors in one regard: its visual sense. Smith has often been criticized for his stiffness as a filmmaker, but Silent Bob offers a noticeably improved dimensionality. Unlike every prior Smith flick, this one actually has some impressive visual sequences that remain memorable. Both the jewel robbery and the bong-saber battle actually work well as action pieces. Smith will never be a superior visual director, but he’s clearly improved significantly in that regard, or at least he’s started to hire people who know how to make the movies look better.

During the audio commentary, Smith describes Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back as a film about “a little guy and a fat guy running around putting on silly outfits and maintaining they’re not gay”. You know what? That’s a pretty good synopsis. Silent Bob clearly won’t be for everyone, but it remains a pretty funny and entertaining piece that works well upon rescreenings; it didn’t do much for me the first time, but I liked it a lot during subsequent viewings. Like every Kevin Smith film, it’s an inconsistent flick, but it’s an interesting one nonetheless.


The Blu-ray Grades: Picture C-/ Audio B+ / Bonus C+

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This transfer didn’t live up to Blu-ray standards.

Sharpness was one of the erratic elements. While closer shots looked fine, wider elements had problems. Those tended to be somewhat soft and fuzzy, with mild edge haloes as well. Overall definition was pretty lackluster. No jagged edges or shimmering appeared, but source flaws cropped up throughout the movie. I didn’t see tons of specks and marks, but I saw more than I expected; the movie never went more than 30 seconds or so without a print defect.

Colors remained decent and not much better. Actually, a few shots offered pretty good vivacity, but most of the hues appeared average. The colors were acceptable and that was about it. Blacks also appeared reasonably dark, while shadows tended to be a bit thick; low-light shots weren’t bad, but they weren’t strong, either. The softness and print flaws were the biggest concerns on display here, though, and the main cause for the transfer’s “C-“.

More satisfying was the Uncompressed 5.1 soundtrack of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. The soundfield generally revealed a forward bias, as the imagery remained fairly heavily anchored in the front channels. That domain showed solid stereo presence, as music spread neatly across the speakers and effects also appeared well placed and accurate. Different elements blended together well, and they moved cleanly and smoothly across the environment. Surround usage usually stayed with general reinforcement of music and effects, but I heard a reasonable amount of distinct audio. Explosions and vehicles created a nice rear presence, and the overall impression left by the track was of a clear and acceptably engulfing piece.

Audio quality also came across positively. I heard a little edge for a few lines, but generally I thought speech appeared natural and distinct, and I discerned no problems related to intelligibility. Music seemed bright and vibrant, with solid range heard in the score and the various songs; all were well reproduced and dynamic. Effects showed similar qualities, as they appeared vivid and clear at all times; I heard no distortion or any flaws related to those elements. The track also boasted some positive bass response, as low end sounds consistently appeared deep and tight. Despite a few small issues, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back provided a good sonic experience as a whole.

Although the original 2002 DVD included tons of extras, only one reappears here: an audio commentary from Smith, producer Scott Mosier, and actor Jason Mewes. Some fans expressed disappointment over this crew, as the track offers a smaller gang o’ speakers than many other Smith affairs. To be sure, it’d be nice to have Ben Affleck along for the ride, but nonetheless, this is still another fun and informative Smith commentary.

As usual, Smith dominates. However, after a slow start, Mosier gives him a run for his money. Mewes tosses in the occasional stoner aside but doesn’t offer much. Smith and Mosier offer a nice mix of the technical and the creative, as they cover a variety of issues from production challenges to working with castmembers to changes made in the script. For the most part, they went over pretty much everything of interest. As always, Smith is frank and funny, and we learn cool tidbits like Carrie Fisher’s problems with Mewes and her refusal to allow any Star Wars references in her scenes. It’s not the best of the View Askew tracks, but it’s still very good.

(As an aside, I was surprised no one mentioned the blatant Pee-wee’s Big Adventure references. The entire third act openly steals from that 1985 classic; the film clearly acknowledges this when Bob and Jay encounter a familiar-looking bicycle.)

Despite my initial dislike of the flick when I saw it theatrically, I’ve found that Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back grew on me, and I enjoyed it quite a lot more during my subsequent assessments. The Blu-ray provides pretty good audio and an enjoyable audio commentary. However, it drops the massive roster of supplements from the 2002 DVD, and picture quality is problematic. Fans should stick with the old DVD, as the Blu-ray doesn’t improve on it.

Note that you can purchase the Blu-ray of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back on its own or as part of a package called “Kevin Smith 3-Movie Collection”. This set also includes Blu-rays of Clerks and Chasing Amy. It retails for $89.99, which means it’s about $20 cheaper than the separate prices of the three movies. If you want all of them on Blu-ray, it’s a good deal.

To rate this film visit the original review of JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK

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Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main