Well, visionary may be an overstatement, but Smith, along with Quentin Tarantino, opened my eyes to the beauty of well written dialogue. I have enjoyed all of his successive films since "Clerks" (yes, even "Mallrats"), and could hardly wait for what was to be the final chapter in his Askewniverse, a chapter which focused on the one constant thread in all of them: Jay and Silent Bob. The final verse in Smith's series is something of a metaphysical fourth dimension road picture that kind of plays like John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," in the sense that Jay and Silent Bob come across all of the colorful characters that have populated the Askewniverse and it helps draw closure to life's little travails. Smith also uses it to break out the most cameos I've ever seen in a single film, and he does it in such a way that it does not really seem all that gratuitous; i.e. there's sense for the placement of each.

The premise for the movie is simple: a movie is being made by Miramax that is based on the comic book characters Bluntman and Chronic, which are two crime fighting stoners whose likeness was based on Jay and Silent Bob. The making of this movie calls the two into action. The hook though is that instead of being driven for gaining part of the profits from the movie, our lovable duo is driven by the fact that the making of the movie has inspired all of those talk back idiots who infect movie web sites to trash both the film and the film's protagonists. In essence, Smith has created a premise to get back at all of the Internet talk-backers who have trashed him in the past, and he does it with flair. So we follow Jay and Silent Bob as they travel from their favorite Quick Stop across the country to Hollywood where they infiltrate the premises and wreak mighty havoc on everything sacred about Hollywood. And it is beautiful to watch.

The underlying truth that is in this movie is simple: never take yourself too seriously, whether you are an amateur Internet film critic, an actor or a film director. Because if you do, people will make fun of you, and rightly so. This is a truth that Smith adheres to himself, never straying far from the fact that IT'S JUST A MOVIE. There is no need to chastise, mock or crucify. It's not that big a deal. And what is truly amazing about this movie, and why it is such a delight to watch, is that everyone who participates in it understands this principle, from Jay and Silent Bob themselves ("Who would ever watch a movie about a couple guys like us?") to actors like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon ("We're shooting 'Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season'... just think about the paycheck") to directors Wes Craven and Gus Van Zant. Even Smith's Star Wars icons Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill get into it (nothing beats a bong-saber battle with the evil Cock-Knocker). And occasionally, the actors themselves wink at the camera to tell us, the viewers, "Hey, it's just a movie!" Kevin Smith has made five moderately to very successful films and he understands that it's not that big a deal. Maybe we should recognize that as well.

Bottom line- if you dig Kevin Smith, this film is awesome. It's even an interesting plot to boot. If you don't like Smith's brand of humor, better off skipping it. But if you're open minded and don't take movies (or yourself) too seriously, check out his stuff and give Jay and Silent Bob a chance. If you relax a little bit you might even find that you like it. But hey, be careful not to tell anyone. Or Smith might hunt you down as well and kick the @#$%@!! out of you too.

- Dogburt

Related Items:

• 13 Ghosts (2001)
• 13 Ghosts (2001)
• American Pie 2 (2001)
• American Pie: Ultimate Edition
• Bring It On (2000)

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