- Why stop now when we’re on a roll? Here’s some more:
“…But not to worry, underlying this serious story is Smith’s humor and comic in-jokes that true fans will get. There are even cameos by his wife and his daughter, Harley. And Jerseyans will appreciate the underlying subtleties of the story, like making the commute back and forth to New York, driving on the Parkway, going to the diner and more.
Smith says that despite the controversy, uncertainty and possible perception that he has sold out, he’s still the same guy he always was.
“My job never really changed from movie to movie. My job’s always been, write the script, rehearse the actors and make sure the actors give as good an on-camera performance as the one I heard in my head when I was writing it, or better. So it didn’t matter what the budget was, my job stays the same.”
E! ONLINE – “Jersey Girl” Beating “Gigli” Rap”
…Those bracing for yet another Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez bomb can rest assured: Jersey Girl does not rhyme with Gigli.
Critics who buried Bennifer’s unpronounceable hit-man comedy are, by comparison, only kicking dirt on their new easy-to-say romantic comedy. And box-office pundits who wrote off Gigli as a financial disaster are expecting greater, if not quite fabulous, things of Jersey Girl.
“It should definitely be a nice, solid debut,” BoxOfficeMojo.com’s Brandon Gray says of Jersey Girl, opening on about 1,600 screens Friday.
THE BOSTON GLOBE – “Has Kevin Smith grown up?”
…”There was a girl I spoke to at a college round table in Miami,” Smith continues. “She was hard-core into my movies, and I definitely picked up that she ain’t quite there with this one. And finally I just said, `You didn’t like it, did you?’ And she said, `No, I really didn’t.’ She was 18, something like that. And I said, `Look, I’m not trying to put you down, but in 10 years you’ll like it a lot more.”
HENDERSONVILLE NEWS-TIMES (Jon Rich) – “‘Silent Bob’ speaks”
While teenage boys may not find what they are looking for in Jersey Girl, Affleck fans will not be disappointed. The co-writer and co-star of Good Will Hunting took a significant pay cut from his usual blockbuster fee for a fifth big-screen collaboration with Smith.
“He just knows how to deliver the dialogue I write in such a way that I’m enthralled by it,” said the man who brought a script by Affleck and friend Matt Damon to Miramax management and received a producing credit on that Oscar-winning film. “As much as I like it when I write it, and believe me I’m of fan of my own stuff, I like it much better when it comes out of his mouth. He’s a great dude, a good friend and just a great guy to know. I like being around him and I like the performances he turns in. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the dude got famous and I was able to hitch my wagon to his star.”
WHAT’S GOIN ON – “Silent Bob speaks: One-on-one with Kevin Smith”
“…Yes fans, he knows he’s late on Daredevil:Target and Spiderman/Black Cat. But his issues will be forthcoming, though he cannot cite a date. In the meantime, he is still a fan of the new titles, as well as the incarnations of his own former titles, wishing their current authors well.
“I penned them after somebody else; I didn’t invent them. I was just another writer on the title for a long time. It’s probably no more weird than how Frank Miller felt like when I took over Daredevil, or what Ann Nocenti felt like when I was writing on Daredevil after she had for so long. It’s always interesting to see what somebody does after you’re gone, and you’re always more interested in what they did with the character. The reason, at least that I wrote on the book in the first place, was because I loved the characters and I loved the way people handled them. So I’m probably still curious and interested in how other people have handled them since me. The nice thing in Green Arrow is that once in a while, you see a character you created pop up. That’s cool.”
THE BOSTON GLOBE – “Has Kevin Smith grown up?”
…”There was a girl I spoke to at a college round table in Miami,” Smith continues. “She was hard-core into my movies, and I definitely picked up that she ain’t quite there with this one. And finally I just said, `You didn’t like it, did you?’ And she said, `No, I really didn’t.’ She was 18, something like that. And I said, `Look, I’m not trying to put you down, but in 10 years you’ll like it a lot more.”
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE – “Indie director goes more mainstream with new Ben Affleck film”
…”Smith admits that compared to his other pictures, “Jersey Girl,” is “about as edgy as a . . . spoon.” He anticipates getting “slapped around a bit” by critics and fans for making a sweet, sentimental film.
“It doesn’t represent a shift where now I’m only going to make movies about hearts and flowers and puppies,” he says.
IGN FILMFORCE – “Kevin Smith’s Musical Side”
“…In addition to the use of popular tunes to set the mood and tone of the film and characters, Smith also re-enlisted the services of composer James Venable, whom he last worked with on both Jay and Silent Bob and The Clerks animated series. “I’d worked with him and when we were heading into Jersey Girl after Jay and Bob he was like ‘What are you doing next?’ And I said ‘I’m doin’ this kind of dramatic, comedic piece that’s kind of a leap away, it’s the opposite tract from Jay and Bob, really.’ Jim does really great kind of techno. You know, the Jay and Bob score, I think, is fantastic. He did the Powerpuff Girls music, the music in Samurai Jack, and he did the Clerks cartoon for us,” Smith says. “He hadn’t really done stuff that didn’t involve computers and synthesizers really. So he was just like ‘I would love to have a shot at doing something that uses real instruments, something more organic.’ So I was like ‘Yeah, absolutely, do it up!’ So we brought him onboard and I thought he did a really good job, especially for a dude that doesn’t normally do that kind of thing, who’s not known for it, at least. I mean he can do it, it’s just not what he gets hired for usually.”
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