Movie Info
Movie Name: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Studio: View Askew Productions
Genre(s): Comedy
Release Date(s): August 24, 2001
MPAA Rating: R
Jay and Silent Bob go Hollywood!
Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) learn that they’ve become the laughing stock of the internet. As a Bluntman and Chronic major motion picture is shooting in Hollywood, Jay and Bob set out cross country to stop it from ruining their reputation. On the path to California, they meet a group of animal activists that seem to like them, but Jay and Silent Bob don’t realize that the women are setting them up as patsies for a jewel heist. Now, Jay and Silent Bob are on the run from the police and Federal Wildlife Marshal Willenholly (Will Ferrell) headed to Hollywood to try to stop the movie and rescue their orangutan friend Suzanne.
Hold me
Written and directed by Kevin Smith, Jay and Silent Bob follows a storyline set up in Mallrats (1995). The movie is a spoof of ’70s and ’80s road movie comedies and features cameos by multiple actors. The film received mixed reviews and had a slight profit at the box office. The movie also received criticism from groups like GLAAD for homophobic jokes (leading to a credit reference and donation).
I like the concept of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. The idea of a movie like Cannonball Run or Pee-wee’s Big Adventure that has celebrities, Hollywood, and a road trip all mixed together is fun…even something further back like It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Unfortunately, there is a big problem…Jay and Silent Bob.
Everybody strike a pose!!!
The movie negates itself by Kevin Smith’s casting of himself and Jason Mewes in the lead roles and this cannot be helped because it is what the script revolves around. The story dives into a lot of Hollywood tropes for films in this genre and does a decent job of playing with the format. Jay and Silent Bob however kill the movie whenever they have a lot of dialogue or plot to cover…goofy fun is one thing, but dumb is another.
The good part of the movie has to be the cameo cast. You have a Star Wars reunion with both Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill. The robbery crew of Shannon Elizabeth, Eliza Dushku, Ali Larter, and Jennifer Schwalbach provide the obligatory eye-candy. Will Ferrell takes a bigger role as the Federal Willenholly (an ode to The Land of the Lost) and Chris Rock as the director Chaka Luther King. Jason Biggs and James Van Der Beek get the honor of playing Jay & Silent Bob/Bluntman & Chronic in the movie version. Directors Gus Van Sant and Wes Craven appear along with George Carlin, Jon Stewart, Judd Nelson, Seann William Scott, Shannon Doherty, Jamie Kennedy, Tracy Morgan, The X-Files’ Smoking Man William B. Davis, Alanis Morissette, and Morris Day and the Time.
How ’bout them apples!!!
The movie also gets tricky due to Smith’s use (and reuse) of actors. Smith considered ending the View Askew Universe with this film so it is an all-out blowout of actors he’s worked with…in multiple roles. Ben Affleck plays both Holden McNeil (of Chasing Amy) and Ben Affleck with Matt Damon in one of the good scenes of the movies in Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season (as a payback for Smith helping get Good Will Hunting to Miramax). You also have Jason Lee playing both Banky (of Chasing Amy) and Brodie (of Mallrats). Regulars Joey Lauren Adams, Renee Humphrey, Walter Flanagan, Brian O’Halloran, and Jeff Anderson also appear (many in the final scene).
Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back was a real disappointment because it had a lot of potential. There are some really clever jokes in the movie and the mock of a genre that isn’t around that much is fun (plus, it uses an orangutan). It was destroyed by Smith’s own writing is the problem and his attempts to be clever (and at points a bit childish…like beating up people who liked Magnolia and flooded his site after Smith panned the film). Smith tried something new with his next film in Jersey Girl (unsuccessfully) in 2004 and returned to his View Askew Universe in Clerks II in 2006.
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