Main cast: Jason Mewes (Jay), Kevin Smith (Silent Bob), Ben Affleck (Holden/himself), Will Ferrell (Willenholly), Seann William Scott (Brent), Jennifer Schwalbach Smith (Missy), Ali Larter (Chrissy), Shannon Elizabeth (Justice), Jason Lee (Brodie/Banky), Mark Hamill (Cock Knocker), Chris Rock (Chaka), Jeff Anderson (Randal), Judd Nelson (Sheriff), Eliza Dushku (Sissy), Matt Damon (himself), Shannen Doherty (herself), James Van Der Beek (himself), Jason Biggs (himself), and Marc Blucas (Fred)
Director: Kevin Smith
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a movie of epic self-indulgence. I seriously doubt even the most fanatical View Askew fanboy will appreciate paying the ticket price to see Kevin Smith masturbate over his glory and self importance in public. Of course, one could argue that Mr Smith is creating a satire of epic proportions against Hollywood here. Even if I look at it this way, that still doesn’t take away from the fact that this movie is not even funny in the “shut down the brain and enjoy” way.
Our two heroes, the foul-mouthed Jay and the silent one, Silent Bob, have appeared in most of Mr Smith’s recent movies, and this time around, they discover that Banky (Chasing Amy) has sold the rights of their alter-egos Bluntman and Chronic to Hollywood. James Van Der Beek (Dawson of TV’s Dawson’s Creek) and Jason Biggs (as he aptly puts it in his own words, the “pie fucker” in American Pie) will be playing the lead roles and foul-mouthed racist Chaka is directing. Holden (Chasing Amy) tells the dumbass duo that they are also being trashed on the Internet. Jay and Silent Bob are incensed. If this movie is made, they will be trashed even more! The movie must be stopped.
Thus, they make their way to Hollywood. Along the way, they encounter four femme fatales who are actually jewel thieves masquerading as animal activists. They use the dumbass duo for their latest heist, but one of them, Justice, falls for Jay. Awww.
Kevin Smith, who also wrote the script, pokes fun at movies The Fugitive, Planet of the Apes (the original one), and those Chuck Norris/orangutan movies of yore. It also pokes fun at the way the stupid, ugly guys always get the babes and the overuse of the “hard-hearted gun-totting female lesbo chicks” stereotypes in movies. But really, everything doesn’t gel well. Shannon Elizabeth plays Justice as if she doesn’t have a clue that this is a comedy. Jay becomes more and more irritating when it becomes apparent that all those pot have completely ruined his brain. Why is Silent Bob sticking with him? Boy, they are so gay, as Jason Biggs in this movie would say, and Mr Smith knows it.
What works? Well, I did laugh at Will Farrell’s stupid law enforcer, the silly dream sequence featuring a lasciviously lesbian Velma and a sociopathic Shaggy (Scooby Doo), and Mark Hamill’s villain character whose name is best not mentioned is hilarious when he delivers the goodies at Jay’s privates. But by the third act of the movie – when Jay and Bob reach Hollywood – the movie has long abandoned its attempt at satire. Instead, it becomes an overlong inside joke about Smith’s previous movies and his friends and his favorite band that only the die-hard View Askew groupies can bring themselves to care.
I’m still wondering why I paid good money to see Smith pull his pants down to prove to me how long his penis is. Man, I feel duped already. Pass me that toke, somebody.
