Painfully underrated
Jersey Girl is something new for writer/director/star Kevin Smith and, opening to credits, it's his first big-name all-"serious" flick, and it's wonderful. 10/10 material, in this reviewer's opinion. As stated elsewhere, this movie would have been box office gold if not for the media circus surrounding "Bennifer" before its release.
Jersey Girl stars Ben Affleck as Oliver Trinke (Trink-ee), a successful young publicist who falls in love with Jennifer Lopez (er, her character Gertrude Steiney). Tragedy ensues, and not to spoil the moment, but Affleck must raise their daughter as a single parent. Trinke's stress at having to be a single parent drives him to explode at work during a critical press conference, and he loses his job. Now depressed by both the loss of his job and his single parent status, Trinke must find a way to deal with life and love once again as he seeks out a new place for himself in the world.
Liv Tyler makes a splendid performance as a sort of...
"You have to be the guy that gets done by six"
This is a comedy that does not present the viewer with novel ideas and that does not use innovative ways to make us laugh. But, even though the plot may be trite, the outstanding Raquel Castro, in her role of Gertie, gives a freshness to this film that makes it worth watching. This little girl captivates the hearts of the viewers, and allows us to enjoy the time spent on this otherwise average comedy.
Ollie Trinke (Ben Affleck) is a successful New York publicist working for the music industry. One day he meets Gertrude (Jennifer Lopez), a serious business woman, who right away makes him fall for her. Everything happens quickly; Ollie takes Gertrude to Jersey to meet his father (George Carlin) and then asks her to marry him, getting her pregnant that same night. Things are going great, the couple is in love, they keep up with their busy lives and they are fashionably late for every event they have to participate in. Everything turns south though when Gertrude dies after an...
Impressive
I'm a big fan of Kevin Smith's first five movies, but I was well aware before entering the theater for Jersey Girl that this was not View Askew's classic blend of dick and fart jokes. If I hadn't known that, I might have wondered what the hell was going on, as this is actually a touching movie.
Jersey Girl has less similarities to Mallrats and more to Chasing Amy; it's about how love doesn't always go the way you think it should, but that doesn't mean it sucks completely. One thing that really took me by surprise was that the movie was less about Ollie Trinke and the video store clerk falling in love, but more about Ollie connecting with his daughter, and discovering what he really wants out of life, with a little help from Will Smith (ANOTHER big surprise there! Sorry if I ruined it for ya).
The movie may not be as slapstick and vulgar as Smith's previous works, but that doesn't mean it's squeaky clean and straight-laced; plenty of laughs in this flick. I liked the fact that...
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