A surprise to many viewers, ‘Jersey Girl’ delivers a coming-of-age story, sure to restore your faith in Ben Affleck and become a valid addition to any DVD collection.

Growing up isn’t easy to do. While it’s been rough for Kevin Smith, he’s finally made it to a point where serious meets light-heartedness and crudeness becomes the rough edges of everyday life.

“Jersey Girl” could be considered the coming-of-age film of Smith’s career, going back to his “Chasing Amy” roots where serious and dramatic topics can still entertain audiences, and offer chances for laughs. While life lessons can turn a crowd quickly, Smith is still able to impart to his audiences something they take home with them without feeling force fed.

The eternal love story takes yet another twist in “Jersey Girl.” Ollie Trinke (Ben Affleck) thought his job was the most important thing in life. Being the youngest “flack” to ever head a department in his public relations firm, Trinke is the pinnacle of spin doctoring and proud of it. Even a workaholic has to take a break, and when that happens he falls in love.

Enter Gertrude Steiney (Jennifer Lopez), the love of Ollie’s life and who he spends the night hours within New York City, one of Ollie’s two categories of life.

Happiness appears to abound for the New York power couple until it seems Ollie’s career could interfere with the picturesque family life Gertrude wants, and, since she wants it, Ollie wants it, too. Differences are worked out until things take another step toward the worse when Gertrude dies giving birth to the couple’s daughter, Gertie (Raquel Castro).

Ollie soon learns that life is hard when he loses his dream job because of one explosive dealing with the press, Ollie trashes his client and learns that home, the New Jersey category of life, is where the heart is. After moving back home to his widowed father’s house, Pops (George Carlin) helps Ollie realize there is more to life and helps him find it right there in New Jersey.

Raising a child as a single parent is one thing, but falling back in love after seven years of mourning is another. When Ollie meets a quick-witted and invasive grad student working part time at the video store, perspective changes once again for him. Falling for Maya (Liv Tyler) while trying to get back into the PR business is when all Ollie has learned is put to the test.

Although the whole Benifer thing was overblown and overplayed, the ambiguously together-as-one duo does play a picturesque and overly sweet, perfect couple. Jennifer Lopez gives a Meg Ryan-like performance in her short-lived role in this picture. Only around long enough to fall in love and have a baby, J-Lo dies within the first 15 minutes of the movie, which, had the scene not been so dramatic, would have drawn cheers from the audience.

Ben Affleck gives a performance that makes up for such films as “Dare Devil” and “Pearl Harbor.” While he may be considered to be too much of a hunk to play the role of a loving and caring father, he does give merit to a role that could have easily become a long-running stereotype. While many worried about another spin-off of “Gigli,” this film certainly knows how to avoid the pitfalls of expectations and audience intelligence.

Liv Tyler does well too in her role sans pointed elf ears. Her beauty on screen is captivating and the personality of her character makes it hard for all the guys in the audience not to fall in love with her. Playing the ideal woman cannot be easy, and so a lot of praise must go her way for this film.

George Carlin plays a significantly sized role in this film, which, by far, overshadows any of his previous appearances on the silver screen. Supplying most of the comic relief, Carlin still manages to play his character with such authenticity and conviction that he makes audiences believe he really is a grandfather. This role was created for Carlin to play. Bypassing his typically short, often crude, cameos, he was able to prove his worth as an actor, rather than an iconic comedian appearing on screen for the sake of the film having his name in the credits.

Raquel Castro played a perfect character, giving a performance rivaling any other one could expect from a child star. Her delivery and understanding of the material transfers well, and Castro comes off as a child we’d all want, but wouldn’t want to raise by ourselves.

Of course, not to discredit all of Smith’s previous film classics, Jason Lee and Matt Damon make quick cameo appearances as PR executives at one of Ollie’s many interviews. Just seeing Lee in a role where you know his subtle meanness and toothy evil grin will appear make that minute or so of the film worth the ticket price. Will Smith has a cameo, imparting the idealistic wisdom that other dramatic Smith films have, although usually delivered by Silent Bob.

Jason Biggs plays a befuddled and quaking assistant living in Ollie’s shadow. While Biggs rarely has more expression than a museum portrait, this role could be a springboard for Biggs and might help people forget what he did to that in that “you know, that one movie he’s in, with Nadia.”

Playing supporting roles, but ones that help extend the comic relief of Carlin and prolong the senses and feelings of a New Jersey borough, Stephen Root and Mike Starr play Greenie and Block, Gertie’s two uncles who Ollie says “aren’t your real uncles. They barely qualify as your peers.”

Kevin Smith fans might be disappointed to learn that Jay and Silent Bob are, as it seems, officially retired as promised. But it almost would have been a sin to include them in this film, making it too corny and pushed to have them just for continuity’s sake. The film was better off with Smith behind the camera doing what he does best — writing and directing.

The cast really comes together to deliver a surprising performance as a whole. Carlin especially will surprise you with his grandfatherly delivery and job as an on-screen surrogate parent. The cohesion of the actors and their performances make “Jersey Girl” a top runner for being one of Smith’s best films to date. While it will be hard to oust the others, seeing this film twice, or more, certainly wouldn’t hurt making that decision.

Smith’s latest film is a tale of growing up, but not necessarily from the point of view of a 6-year-old Jersey girl. With sort of a “when life hands you lemons …” motif, Smith still manages to entertain by having his characters develop fully within the story without pushing a fairy tale ending down your throat. All of the characters come full circle and are better for the experiences they had throughout the film, and so does the audience. If you examine his previous films, “Jersey Girl” isn’t typical Kevin Smith fair. This is more reminiscent of the life-lessons-learned quality that earned “Chasing Amy” so much acclaim.

When this film does hit DVD, it will join the rest of its family on my shelf, right next to “Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back,” “Dogma,” “Chasing Amy,” “Mallrats” and “Clerks.” It just shows once again how life has its ups and downs and how sometimes growing up is a back and forth process.