…The most impressive performance is Affleck. In a role that is not showy (there’s no blowing up of asteroids, Japanese World War II-era Zeroes, retarded kid or bad accent for him to hide behind), Affleck is the rock the movie is built on. Dealing with a pretty involved character arc, Affleck’s work in Jersey Girl is that of an actor, not a movie star. Summoning believable tears, rage, frustration and clear feelings of love, longing and doing it all within a realistic relationship with the young girl playing his daughter, Affleck never lets Castro overshadow him, nor does he pull her along with him. The character’s maturation is interesting to watch, particularly with an actor like Affleck, so convincing at being self-involved and mean in previous movies.

Always at his best working with an actor who challenges him and makes him react (Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting, Gwyneth Paltrow in Bounce, Joey Lauren Adams in Chasing Amy), Affleck is lucky to have Castro, Carlin and Tyler, who are all capable of that. Much of the credit for the performance must also lie with Smith, who certainly wrote the character with his own voice, but wrote with the actor in mind. This is Affleck’s fifth movie with Kevin Smith, and it’s clear that Smith knows how to direct his muse.

Ultimately, this is Kevin Smith’s movie. Working with an Academy Award-winning cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of the Third Kind), lends Jersey Girl a look never before seen in Smith’s work: classy. That’s not a knock on Smith so much as it’s a compliment to Zsigmond. But it’s Smith’s script and direction that make the movie work. There are clear moments of corniness that show Smith’s relative unfamiliarity with material like this, but for the most part his willingness to focus on the task at hand makes the film more cohesive than the majority of his previous efforts. Even the music used throughout the film works extremely well. This is not to say that much of Smith’s trademark humor and edge aren’t present; they certainly are, but he’s found a worthwhile balance. It’s as though Smith has gone through a very public film school over the past ten years, and if Jersey Girl is the first film out of the gate, post-graduation, we have a great deal to look forward to.