IGM FILMFORCE – “IGN Interviews Kevin Smith”
…IGN: So, another Jersey film, eh? You’re gettin’ to be almost as bad as Woody Allen (and Ed Burns) [laughs].
SMITH: I know, I know [smiles]. At least I know that this is it for a little while. Green Hornet won’t be set in Jersey…or will it? Yeah, it was nice though to make a Jersey film that’s not like tied-into the other Jersey films. You know, all those were kind of interconnected. And this one’s set in Jersey, but not the same world of New Jersey. So this was the one that I actually felt was kind of the nod to the hometown, ’cause I grew up in that town, Highlands. Oddly enough, when we made Clerks through Jay and Bob we rarely referenced the town I actually grew up in. We referenced Leonardo, which is where the Quick Stop is and Red Bank, which is where I lived after Clerks got sold. But I never really gave my props to my hometown. So Jersey Girl, for me, was kind of about doin’ that – it’s not the sole reason to do it, but it was one of the benefits to doin’ that movie, was bein’ able to give a shout-out to the town I grew up in, kind of show it off.
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TIME ONLINE – “Ben and Ben”
“Ben Affleck flashes his forgive-me smile and says, “I’m not really a whoremonger.” This plangent one-liner is from his new movie “Jersey Girl,” but the gaga-for-gossip public would not have been surprised if it had come from Affleck’s recent chats with Jay Leno and Larry King, or from a “Saturday Night Live” skit the other week when he guest-hosted. And no, Jennifer Lopez didn’t pop in, the way Affleck’s ex-ex-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow did the last time he hosted “SNL.” …
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BOSTON HERALD – “After Bennifer: Ben Affleck picks up the pieces of his life, much like his `Jersey Girl’ character”
…”Though Affleck can pen letters, he and Damon have yet to script films since winning the Oscar for “Good Will Hunting.” He does favor writer-directors such as Smith, however, and praises this departure from Smith’s usual gross-out teen comedies. Affleck also thinks “Jersey Girl” contains his best performance yet.
“It’s really a sweet movie,” he said. “I realize that if there’s a Frank Capra working movies today, it’s actually Kevin Smith. Who would’ve thought?”
Is he worried that Smith’s loyal following will be turned off by this departure into sweetness and light?
“It’s interesting because I was reading some reactions where people were saying, `Well, I don’t think that this is as angry as Kevin’s other movies.’ I don’t know if Kevin’s other movies are angry. If you look at `Dogma’ or `Chasing Amy,’ they’re actually sort of really sweet movies, and `Jay and Silent Bob’ is extremely hilarious because people say (expletive) a lot. This is sort of the same thing without saying the F word. It even includes the frank discussion of sexuality.”
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DETROIT FREE PRESS – “‘Jersey Girl’ has director on edge”
…”When people see Ben and Liv together, they’ll forget all that other stuff. She was my favorite character in the script, and she really did her justice. The thing I’m proudest of maybe is that fact that you take these two actors, who had like zero chemistry in ‘Armageddon’ and you really believe they’re made for each other in this.”
Affleck says he can only hope people judge the movie on what it is — meaning sincere. “No matter what he says, it has a lot of Kevin Smith stuff in it. You’ll know it’s the same guy who made ‘Chasing Amy,’ ” he says.
Smith, whose next movie is an $80-million action-adventure based on radio and TV crime-fighter “The Green Hornet,” recalls that he first tried to go straight with “Chasing Amy,” a film that starred Affleck as a guy who fell in love with a lesbian.
“But then I got nervous and stuck the Jay and Silent Bob characters in there for insurance. And I’ve always regretted that, you know. Yet it brought the fans, and I’m always worried about that because they pay the rent.
“Every time we have one of these test screenings, and Harvey packs the audience with all these Kevin Smith fans to see how they react, I’m like, ‘Dude, don’t do that.’
“This is it, my entire audience. If you let them in free, you ruin the whole first weekend opening gross. It’s like I know them, every one one of them.”
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ASSOCIATE DPRESS – “First sweetheart: Indie director steps out of character with ‘Jersey Girl'”
…”It comes at a really good time for him,” Smith says. “People certainly teed off on him with ‘Gigli,’ and ‘Paycheck’ didn’t help matters.”
Smith says Affleck relished the opportunity to play a dad.
“I think he’s a frustrated family man, and it fit him well. He’s really great with kids,” Smith says.
Castro, now 9, said in a phone call from New York, “I think Ben would make a good dad, because he’s like a big kid. He’s funny.”
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CHICAGO TRIBUNE – “`Silent Bob’ takes a risk”
…. You regularly keep in touch with your fan base via your Web site (www.viewaskew.com).
A. When I first found out about the Internet I was like, “Wait a minute — you can get instant reaction about your films?” Being able to get instant feedback from people who are actually buying tickets, that to me was like, “I want to be in on that.” We opened up our Web site, put up a message board and started interacting with the fans. Let me tell you, these people keep you honest.
Q. They must have some interesting things to say about “Jersey Girl.”
A. People who are big fans of “Jay and Silent Bob,” I don’t know if they can dig on this movie at all. Once I started writing it, I knew I was going to lose a certain percentage of fans. Those people, I’m sure, are going to turn around and say, “Oh, he’s sold out,” as if not selling out means you make the same movie every time. But I’m curious as a filmmaker to see if I can make something that stands by itself, that doesn’t have a safety net.
Q. You could make the argument that you’re broadening your audience.
A. I probably would have had a better chance of that happening had “Gigli” not happened [laughs]. Right now I’m in this world of, “Well, will people care about this movie on its own?” I’m pretty confident that word of mouth will get out there that the movie is what it is — it’s about a guy and his relationship with his daughter and his relationship with his father much more than it is about his relationship with the character that Jennifer plays.
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