THE ‘JERSEY’ GUY

March 18, 2004 — TO tell the truth, this movie inspires me to be a father as much as ‘Armageddon’ inspired me to become an oil-rigger / astronaut! It’s a great role, but it’s just a role.” So says Ben Affleck in response to the unimaginative question, does his role as a doting dad in his new film “Jersey Girl” lead him to thoughts of diapers and domesticity?

Affleck, disarmingly candid, says that “Jersey Girl,” made with his friend and frequent director Kevin Smith, is an “actor’s movie. It’s performance-driven, as opposed to movies in which the actor is . . . incidental.”

This tale of a p.r. man who makes the fatal mistake of dissing his client – Will Smith! – publicly, gives Affleck the opportunity to emote. He is not a stock, stoic, heroic figure. Ben, at his best on-screen, is kind of a mess. The closer his characters are to an emotional crisis, the better he is. Here he performs colorfully with young Raquel Castro as his daughter, and Liv Tyler, extraordinarily appealing, as the woman who wants to bring a little oomph back in his life. Also excellent is George Carlin as his dad.

“Jersey Girl” is a leap for indie god Smith, who has guided Ben through “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma.” The director has attempted to keep his cutting edge, while confronting sentimental issues – precocious children, aging parents, dying spouses – all in the context of a more mainstream Hollywood-type film. Affleck says, “This certainly reflects Kevin’s change of life. We met when we were both about 23, before ‘Chasing Amy.’ A lot of what was on our mind was sex – getting it, the history of it, figuring it out. ‘Jersey Girl’ represents his maturing.” And Ben’s maturing? A hearty laugh – “Well, maybe I’m not as evolved yet!” Maybe not, but he did give us a fascinating analysis of recent events, insights he hasn’t offered elsewhere.

“Jersey Girl” features 12 minutes of Jennifer Lopez. Then she’s gone. This is not “Gigli,” of which Ben says today, “Well, there you had a film that was affected by, and informed by, the off-screen lives of its participants. The original film was dark and weird and kind of surreal. Then, as Jennifer and I became closer, and the publicity got out of hand, the studio decided it wanted a ‘Ben ‘n’ Jen’ comedy – as if there had been a precedent for such a thing to begin with! So, we had to go back for reshoots, to conform to an image we barely knew we had.

“But that was all part of the absurdity of the thing. And as bad as it got, I did appreciate being in the eye of the hurricane, a first-person perspective on a pop-culture phenomenon, which is a ridiculous way to refer to a personal relationship that mattered. And I thought I’d seen the worst of that when I broke up with Gwyneth [Paltrow]! But Jennifer and I sort of fit into the zeitgeist of the moment. They had to, metaphorically, ‘build new sets’ for our affair. I felt like I wore a hair shirt for a while, but we both got out alive.”

And what’s next for Ben? “As soon as this ‘Jersey Girl” junketing is over, I’m taking off. Four months. I’m going to travel and clear my head. There’s some tentative plan to to do a movie called ‘Glory Road,’ but I don’t want to think about work right now. I don’t want to, nor do I have to, worry my career into the ground – when’s the next job?”

No more matinee-idol, pop-culture sizzle? “No, please!” Ben says. “The lucky thing is, the press and the public have such short attention spans. One minute it’s me and Jen, the next, Janet Jackson’s breast . . . ”

Smith fears controversy will also hurt his latest flick, the romantic comedy Jersey Girl, which reunites Ben Affleck and ex-love Jennifer Lopez for the first time since Gigli crashed and burned. “I have to accept the fact that [Jersey Girl] will never be a No. 1 film because people are predisposed to think it is a Ben and Jen [vehicle],” he laments. “They are just not going to turn out because they all hated Gigli so much, even though nobody saw it.

“I have the benefit of knowing that the movie is not about those two,” adds Smith, referring to the fact that Jersey Girl really focuses on the relationship between Affleck and his on-screen daughter, played by Raquel Castro. “Now if Ben and the kid break up, I’ve got problems. But then again, if he and the kid date, I’ve got bigger problems.”

JERSEY GIRL- New Yorker Ollie Trinke’s (Ben Affleck) life goes into the toilet when he finds himself a single father, out of work, and living back at home with his dad (George Carlin) in a small town in New Jersey. As years pass and he settles into the routines of manual labor and evenings spent watching cartoons with his daughter, he finds himself yearning for a chance to return to the hustle of his former life. Kevin Smith’s newest film (and undoubtedly his best looking yet) is something of a departure as it leaves the slapstick behind. It feels almost like Woody Allen lite–although at times a little sappy– as a dramatic comedy about real people. Some of his hardcore fans will be upset by the stylistic change, but Smith has created a likeable paean to parenting and children, and to accepting the life you have instead of always chasing after the past. And the characters, Liv Tyler’s notwithstanding, are familiar, three-dimensional people… like your friends and neighbors. And it still has plenty of laughs. No, it’s not perfect– a little cheesy, even saccharine perhaps. But it’s still a fine movie from a director who, after five movies, has finally grown up. (B ) –Ben Beard

Kevin Smith Eyes Gyllenhaal for The Green Hornet

Jersey Girl writer and director Kevin Smith has met with actor Jake Gyllenhaal about taking the title role in Miramax’s The Green Hornet, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The trade says the two had a positive chat with the actor about the famed character and with the direction of the potential franchise, Smith is now interested in casting Gyllenhaal as the crime-fighting superhero who also doubles as Daily Sentinel publisher Britt Reid.

Other names may still be in the mix, but Gyllenhaal appears to fit Smith’s current conception of the character. Gyllenhaal can next be seen in Roland Emmerich’s The Day After Tomorrow, in theaters on May 28.

Director Kevin Smith answers audience questions after a screening of his new film “Jersey Girl” at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 14, 2004.(AP Photo/Jack Plunkett)

‘Jersey Girl’ Screens at Film Festival

By CHRISTY LEMIRE, AP Entertainment Writer

AUSTIN, Texas – Bennifer’s last hurrah took place at the South by Southwest film festival, where “Jersey Girl,” starring Ben Affleck (news) and (very briefly) Jennifer Lopez (news), was shown before a wildly enthusiastic crowd.

Director-writer Kevin Smith (news) told the sold-out audience afterward that he’s still happy to have the former off-screen couple play an on-screen couple in his film, despite the disastrous “Gigli,” their previous cinematic pairing.

“I’ve always been a fan of `Out of Sight,'” Smith said Sunday night, referring to the Steven Soderbergh (news) film in which Lopez co-starred with George Clooney (news).

But the real reason he chose her? “Affleck asked me,” he deadpanned.

Smith said his wife suggested casting Lopez as Affleck’s wife: “I said, ‘Really? He’s making a movie with her right now. It’s called “Gigli.” Should be a huge hit.'”

Notoriously, it wasn’t — and neither was their extremely public relationship. Affleck and Lopez — “Bennifer,” as they became known — were supposed to have married in a lavish ceremony last September, but abruptly called it off and blamed the media for its constant scrutiny.

Smith similarly canceled their wedding plans in the movie. He cut the scene in which they walk down the aisle, limiting her already brief screen time. Lopez’s character dies during childbirth within the first few minutes, forcing Affleck’s character, a high-powered music publicist, to re-examine his life as he raises their daughter on his own.

“I think we got better work out of him because it was her,” Smith said of Affleck, who has several emotional scenes.

The director acknowledged that “Jersey Girl” is vastly different from the movies on which he’s built his loyal fan base, including “Clerks” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” with their stoned characters and obscure comic book references.

“That’s me on a soft day — kinda warm and gooey,” Smith said after the closing credits stopped rolling. “It came from being married. It came from having a kid.”

“The next movie I’m thinking about making is about a puppy,” he added.

The South by Southwest film festival, now in its 11th year, runs through Saturday.

“Jersey Girl,” co-starring Liv Tyler (news) and George Carlin (news), opens nationwide March 26.

3/17 – George Carlin – The Tonight Show

3/23 – George Carlin – Craig Kilborn

3/23 – Jason Biggs – Jimmy Kimmel Live

3/23 – Kevin Smith – Tavis Smiley Show

3/24 – Kevin Smith – Craig Kilborn

3/24 – Ben Affleck – Ellen DeGeneres

3/28 – Kevin Smith – Sunday Morning Shootout

3/29 – Raquel Castro – Tonight Show

4/7 – George Carlin – Tavis Smiley Show

Tyler admits she got a case of the butterflies when it came time for her and Affleck to disrobe for their Jersey Girl shower sequence. “It is always nerve-wracking doing any kind of love scene or make-out scene,” Tyler admits. “But I feel really comfortable with Ben. You just try and let go and have fun with it.”

Talk show host Larry King, left, displays the Razzie Award won by actor Ben Affleck, right, for his film’s “Daredevil” and “Gigli,” following Affleck’s comment about winning the award but never receiving the actual award, during a taping of “Larry King Live,” Tuesday, March 16, 2004, in Los Angeles. Affleck discussed a wide range of topics from baseball to his new comedy film “Jersey Girl.” (AP Photo/CNN, Rose M. Prouser)

Though it is a bittersweet experience to have Jersey Girl’s early scenes reflect his relationship with Lopez, Affleck welcomes its arrival. “I’m really proud and pleased of Kevin and his work. It is done on a high professional level. Gigli was such a disaster of a movie. What created it was an excess of publicity for me and Jen. There was a rising tide of animosity against us that crested on that movie. It was hard for people to distinguish between our relationship and the movie.”

With Jersey Girl, “we can end that chapter on a positive note with fond memories.”

On possibly abandoning his fan base:

“It’s not [about] how many people are going to watch it; it’s [about] the audience that you are accustomed to, and then suddenly turning around and being like, ‘Here’s something that’s really pussy soft.’ Thankfully the fan base is what it is and there are people who are fans of ‘Chasing Amy.’ They’re not all Jay and Bob guys. But you know the 13 and 14-year-old Jay and Bob guys you’re going to lose … the hardcore younger ones are probably going to feel like I turned my back on them, and they are the most vocal ones on the Internet. They are the ones who are like, ‘You fucking sell-out’.”

On the prospect of getting an Oscar:

“Never. Never happen. Can’t do it. Don’t think I have it in me. I’ve seen the people who win Oscars, and Ben [Affleck] excluded, and Matt [Damon], it’s not company that I can see myself ever keeping. Or that anyone sees me in the same context of. So I don’t think that that will ever happen. I don’t think that I’ll ever even get to go to the Oscars. I would just be happy to present. Presenting would be [like] a win [for me]… but they’d need a 10-second delay.”

FILM THREAT REVIEW (click here to read complete review)

“I am an admittedly huge fan of Kevin Smith, but I didn’t hold high hopes for this film. I wasn’t sure he could pull off the comedy-drama. Plus, he was ditching Jay and Silent Bob and “Jersey Girl” just seemed to smack of being some kind of “I’m all grown up now-look at me!” kind of film. I was totally wrong in my assumption and I’m glad I was.

Instead “Jersey Girl” has more heart up on the screen than any film I’ve seen in recent years. I mean, we’re talking sappy, sweet, heart wrenching sentimentality that takes balls as big as softballs to put into a film in this era of cynicism. Sad as this is to say, Affleck’s inspired acting and Smith’s tender script are just begging to be skewered by cynics. But I found myself believing in the writing and performances all the way.

“Jersey Girl” still has all of that great Kevin Smith dialogue but without the dick and fart jokes. Personally I don’t think anyone handles Smith’s dialogue better than Affleck and he really shines here. I was also really blown away by Liv Tyler’s performance as the smart and sexy Maya. Her characterization and witty handling of Smith’s dialogue have given me newfound respect for someone who has started to seem sort of…sleepy in her roles as of late. Hell, everyone in this film is incredible including J-Lo, 7-year old Castro and George Carlin who drops a drama bomb at the tail end of the film that is heart breaking. Yes, I said drama bomb. ”