Barnes & Noble

Filmmaker Kevin Smith, a Garden State native who cut his directorial eyeteeth on the gritty indie Clerks, completes his gradual move into the mainstream with Jersey Girl, a formulaic romantic comedy that relies on Smith’s sharp dialogue and winning performances by Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler to give it some edge. Ben plays a hard-charging New York publicist who seems to have it all: great job, luxurious Manhattan lifestyle, and a gorgeous wife (portrayed by Affleck’s ex-fiancé, Jennifer Lopez); but he goes to pieces after she dies in childbirth. He loses his high-powered job, moves back to New Jersey with his young daughter, and takes a dead-end job as a laborer. He spends the next seven years in a funk, snapping out of it only when a kooky video store clerk (Tyler) takes a romantic interest in him. Jersey Girl is a real departure for Smith; it doesn’t have the shiftless stoners, profane dialogue, or outrageous situations commonly found in his films. And he tones down his customary reliance on pop culture references, too. Instead, he focuses on developing the story’s principal characters, making them warm and believable. Affleck is not only credible but also sympathetic as the long-bereaved dad fearful of surrendering his heart to another woman. Tyler, who has seemed flat and colorless in her few outings as a conventional ingénue, lights up the screen as the honest, irrepressible, slightly odd young woman he reluctantly falls for. George Carlin is appropriately gruff as Affleck’s blue-collar dad, and little Raquel Castro manages to be cute but not cloying as the daughter. The working-class New Jersey milieu is accurately depicted, and the characters are so engaging that we’re willing to forgive Smith when he drags in threadbare narrative devices to bring the story to a satisfactory conclusion. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Writer and director Kevin Smith embraces his warm and fuzzy side with this comedy drama about a man who learns a lot about life and love in the wake of a personal tragedy. Ollie Trinke (Ben Affleck) is a guy who seemingly has it made -- he has a great job as a music publicist with a major Manhattan public relations firm, and he's madly in love with his wife, Gertrude (Jennifer Lopez). Ollie is very much excited about the fact he and Gertrude are soon to become parents, but Ollie's joy turns to despair when Gertrude dies in childbirth. Emotionally shattered, Ollie isn't sure what to do next, and he and his newborn daughter, Gertie, soon move to New Jersey to live with his father, Bart (George Carlin), who grows tired of playing babysitter after several months. Juggling his career with single parenthood proves to be more than Ollie can manage, and one day he's fired after he bungles a major press event. Unable to find work, Ollie eventually takes a dead-end job in New Jersey's public works department, and devotes himself to his daughter as he retreats from his own life. But after frequent visits to the local video store, he strikes up a friendship with Maya (Liv Tyler), a pretty girl who works behind the counter. As Ollie finally begins to come out of his shell, he's offered a chance to move back into the music industry, but he realizes that would mean moving back to Manhattan -- and Gertie (Raquel Castro), now seven years old, makes it clear she doesn't want to go. Jersey Girl also features cameo performances from Kevin Smith regulars Jason Lee and Matt Damon, and significantly is Smith's first feature not to include Jason Mewes and Smith himself as stoner archetypes Jay and Silent Bob. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 786936245660
• Source: MIRAMAX
• Region Code: 1
• Time: 1:42:00
• Sales Rank: 15,735

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