Ben Affleck, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, George Carlin, Jason Lee, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill Director: Kevin Smith Rated: R, with raunchiness galore Length: 104 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(August 24, 2001) -- More silly than subversive, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is the slightest and least purposeful of filmmaker Kevin Smith's five irreverent New Jersey comedies that began with Clerks.

A sloppy mishmash of parody and self-parody, the final chapter of the chronicles stars two guys who've appeared in little more than cameos in the earlier films.

Starting with Clerks, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) have been the hapless slackers who hang out in front of a Jersey strip-mall convenience store, selling pot, making idiotic pop-culture critiques and dreaming of women they'll never win.

Jay and Bob's only claim to fame is that they've inspired the Bluntman and Chronic comic-book series. Now they learn their story has been sold to Miramax Pictures -- and they've never been involved in the negotiations.

Not only have they been cut out of money, but the project has made them fair game for criticism on Internet movie sites.

Their solution? Head for Hollywood and disrupt the shooting.

Along the way, they're helped (or hindered) by a comic-book impresario (Jason Lee), a comic-book artist (Ben Affleck), an expert hitchhiker (George Carlin), a nun (Carrie Fisher), a wildlife ranger (Will Ferrell), a sexy jewel thief (Shannon Elizabeth), a race-obsessed director (Chris Rock) and a washed-up superhero actor (Mark Hamill).

The result is a Miramax homecoming video, with myriad inside jokes and references to Good Will Hunting and the Scream movies.

Of course, filmgoers are treated to the relentless profanity and sexual references that are typical of youth comedies today -- and which Smith pioneered in 1994's Clerks.

Jay and Silent Bob is buoyed by familiar faces from earlier Smith films, but its central characters are a liability. Jason Mewes (Jay) carries most of the film's dialogue as the film's lead character (since Silent Bob generally is). And Mewes' acting qualifications are simply that he went to high school with Smith and was a clerk in Smith's comic-book store.

Nepotism may be enough for a wacky cameo, but it's not the stuff of a lead actor.

Jay and Silent Bob is strictly for hard-core fans of the New Jersey chronicles -- and you know who you are. Like the also weak Mallrats, the new film will survive strictly on the good will of Smith's fans.

Few other viewers will follow or enjoy the film. That's not necessarily true of the best of the chronicles: Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma.

But in this instance, Smith saved the worst for last.