Director: Kevin Smith, US, 103min
Stars: Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, George Carlin, Raquel Castro, Jennifer Lopez
On general release
Jersey Girl is Smith’s attempt to move away from the scatological humour of Jay and Silent Bob, the stoner duo who appear in all his previous movies.
Ollie Trinke (Affleck) is a successful publicist whose wife dies during childbirth, leaving him to bring up their daughter. He loses his job and moves out to the sticks to live with his curmudgeonly father Bart (Carlin), where he learns to be a “good” parent.
Amid the thick sentimentality there is some cracking Smith dialogue, while Tyler provides light relief as a sweet, yet pornography-obsessed, video store clerk, and the decision to kill off Lopez in the first 15 minutes could lead to inappropriate applause from anyone in the audience who has seen Gigli.
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Yet the film’s funniest moments revolve around a couple of none-too-bright hangers-on. Maybe Smith has not moved so much after all.
John McNamara