Slappy Says… Presents Slappy's Take on:
Jay and Silent Bob Strike
Back
(Major Spoilers Ahead!!!)
Kevin Smith's latest film (the
fourth in his New Jersey series) follows the misadventures of loveable stoners
Jay and his hero life-mate Silent Bob as they attempt to travel from Leonardo,
New Jersey to Hollywood in three days in order to stop production of the movie
"Bluntman and Chronic Strike Back."
The movie starts out with our two
delinquent heroes meeting for the first time in front of the Quick Stop. They
are only toddlers and their respective mothers leave them outside while they
shop. In an inspired moment of comedic genius we see Jay's foul-mouthed mother
swearing like a sailor to a passer by before retreating into a record store
(where RST Video now stands) followed by Jay's first words: "Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck fuck fuck."
Years later Jay and Silent Bob are
still in front of "the stores" doing what they do best: swearing and
selling weed. Enter Randal of "Clerks" fame. Fed up with Jay's
dealing drugs in front of the store he calls the cops and files a restraining
order on the two. Left with no place else to go they stop into Brodie's Secret
Stash (a play on Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, an actual comic book store
owned by Kevin Smith, that I'm sure I've misspelled) where Brodie (from
"Mallrats") inform the pair that the comic book based on them,
Bluntman and Chronic (as seen in "Chasing Amy") is being made into a
Hollywood movie. But what bothers them more than the fact that they aren't
getting paid is the fact that all over the Internet people are ripping the
movie and comic apart. Not only are they ripping the movie and comic apart they
are ripping the characters apart. Not only are they ripping the characters
apart, they're ripping the characters' alter egos apart, by name, those names
being Jay and Silent Bob. Figuring the best way to get the bashing done with is
to stop production of the movie the two set out on a cross-country journey
filled with one misadventure after another.
In the end the movie gets made and
everyone ends up happy. THE END.
I enjoyed the film very much. There
are no ifs ands or buts about it. When the movie opens Wednesday night Aug. 22nd
I'll be there. But I'm having a hard time fitting this movie in with the
others. It's more like "Mallrats" than it is any of Smith's other
films but takes on a life very much of it's own. The one BIG disappointment for
me was the downplay in heavy-handed language that one has come to expect from
Smith. His movies tend to speak over the heads of the American film-going sheep
leaving the entertainment squarely in the hands of those with a broad enough
vocabulary to understand what is being talked about. That leaves an almost
dumbed-down comedy seemingly put together for the masses. Once I got past that
it's all laughs from beginning to end.
The bright shinning star is Jason
Mewes reprising the role of Jay for the 7th time (including the TV
series and the cameo in "Scream 3"). His timing is spot-on and
hands-down worth the price of admission.
It's hard to comment on a Smith film
without giving everything away so I'll try to refrain from doing so. The
following are a few little pieces (10 to be exact) that might pass you by so
I'll comment on them in the hopes that you'll notice and appreciate them when
you go see it (and you SHOULD GO SEE IT!!!):
1)
When
Jay and Silent Bob are running through the Miramax studio trying to escape the
guards they run straight through the filming of another movie's scene. There
are a bunch of ninjas all dressing in black fighting a man in a red suit. As
they pass by they knock the hero in red on his ass and for a split second we
see that it is in fact Marvel Comic's hero Daredevil (Smith having penned a few
issues of the book0>
2)
One
character that DID NOT appear, that many were hoping to see, is the infamous
Rick Derris. BUT near the beginning of the film when Jay and Silent Bob try to
take a bus the bus company is called Derris.
3)
Jay
and Silent Bob visit Holden (from "Chasing Amy") to find out what is
going on with the movie and a quick shot of the outside of the building Holden
lives/works in has a sign/logo that reads "Potzers, Inc." (or
something to that effect, sorry Mr. Smith, it flashed by rather fast).
"Potzer" being a loving pet name used a few times in "Chasing
Amy."
4)
Another
set that Jay and Silent Bob stumble apon is the set for "Good Will Hunting
2: Hunting Season" where Ben and Matt are shooting a scene in the Harvard
bar where Will Hunting gets into a battle of wits with a local Harvard student.
Once again they but heads (the same actor from "Good Will Hunting"
reprising HIS role) but this time Will Hunting pulls out a shotgun and blows
the bastard across the room.
5)
There
are many parodies in this film. Including the "E.T." sequence of Jay
and Silent Bob riding past a moon with Susan (an ape) in the basket seat, a
"Planet of the Apes" parody (the original, not so much the re-make)
where Jay dreams himself in Chuck Heston's role and has a break-down on the
beach in front of what's left of the Statue of Liberty, a "Charlie's Angels"
sort of parody involving an all female gang of international jewel thieves, a
parody of "Star Wars: Episode 1" where Jay pulls out a double-sided
bong/lightsaber and goes to town on Mark Hammil (Jay: "Call me Darth
Balls"; Cockknocker (Hammil): "Don't fuck with a Jedi Master"),
and possibly the most brilliant parody of them all: a parody of the
yet-to-be-released live-action "Scooby Doo" movie where Velma all but
admits to being a lesbian and the whole crew smokes up with Jay and Silent Bob,
leading to an excellent moment where Scooby himself starts talking to Jay and
Silent Bob before going into his trademark giggle.
6)
At
the end of the movie we see people leaving the premiere of "Bluntman and
Chronic Strike Back" and find out that Banky ("Chasing Amy") is
dating Hooper X (also from "Chasing Amy").
7)
Another
group leaving the theater includes Alyssia Jones (Joey Lauren Adams reprising
her "Chasing Amy" role) and her sister Trisha Jones
("Mallrats") who talk about the movie being a bomb and that Miramax
should have chosen one of Holden's other comics "like the one he made
about your relationship." "'Chasing Amy'?" "Yeah."
"It wouldn't have worked as a movie." (Once again I humbly beg the
forgiveness of Kevin Smith because I'm sure the dialogue I just wrote is not
spot-on what is in the movie.)
8)
A
big part of the movie revolves around Jay, Silent Bob and an orangutan they
liberated named Susan. Fans of Smith's earlier works will recognize Susan from
the end credits sequence from "Mallrats."
9)
At
the end of "Mallrats" Brodie becomes the host of the "Tonight
Show" and in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" he owes a comic
store. BUT, if you look closely behind Jason Lee when he's behind the counter
at the store there is a blown-up copy of a newspaper front page (Variety?) with
the headline "BRODIE BOLTS" along with a picture of Jason Lee in his
white suit from the end credits of "Mallrats."
10)
In
the world of "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" it's obvious that the
story from "Clerks" really happened, as did the events in
"Mallrats" and "Chasing Amy" but it appears that
"Dogma" DID NOT. Not only were there no references to the characters
of happenings from the movie but Ben and Matt (on the set of "Good Will
Hunting 2") talk about how Ben talked Matt into doing "Dogma."
BUT (and this might bother some film purists) Carrie Fisher (who plays a nun
that picks up the hitchhiking Jay and Silent Bob) has a "Buddy
Christ" dashboard statue. Maybe she stopped at Brodie's Secret Stash and
bought one…
That's all I'm going to give away. GO SEE THE FILM! Those
that enjoyed Smith's other works will have a great time and those that might
have found his other movies hard to follow because of big words (aka "the
sheep") will also enjoy this movie.
Slappy
8/16/01