Anghus Houvouras fears Kevin Smith’s latest Jay & Silent Bob movie is a bad idea…
Kevin Smith feels like the cinematic equivalent of the law of diminishing returns. A once talented writer and filmmaker who has descended into a creative black hole that he continues to try to claw his way out of.
First off, let me pay some respects to the man. I love Clerks. Easily one of my top 10 films of all time. For that cinematic gem I can easily forgive him for every ridiculous gaffe (Tusk, Yoga Hosers) or total embarrassing effort (Cop Out, Jersey Girl). Like so many film fans who came into consciousness during the 1990’s, Smith was one of the independent voices that we looked up to. An unpretentious, genuinely funny guy who wanted to make his own kind of movies.
And there were those of us happily in that legion for many years. We saw every movie, showed up to every public appearance, made the trek to Red Bank, NJ to see where so many of his films were shot, and proudly bought and displayed the merchandise.
Kevin Smith’s career arc has been… interesting. His glorious first act saw him thrive in the heyday of independent cinema along contemporaries like Spike Lee, Stephen Soderberg, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino. From Clerks through Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, Kevin Smith had created a kind of brand that hadn’t existed up to that point. The infancy of the internet had helped put Smith in touch with his fans in a way few filmmakers were ever able to leverage.
Smith’s second act was more troubling. He attempted to capitalize on his early successes and play the Hollywood game. It didn’t go well. He watched as his bigger budget efforts were met with incredulity by almost everyone except the most passionate fans. Films like Jersey Girl and Zack and Miri Make a Porno failed to become the crossover hits he had hoped. Then he tried to play the studio game with Cop Out before trying to reinvent himself with Red State and a handful of films that barely warrant a mention. Somewhere in the middle of this reinvention phase he began doing podcasts and became more recognizable as a perpetual pundit on geek culture.
Lately, Smith manages to get a lot of press for multiple attempts to go back to the well. There was talk of Mallrats 2, which then turned into a potential TV series which never found traction. Then it was Clerks 3, which always sounded like a really bad idea that would never come to fruition. This week we learned the project received the mercy killing so many of us were hoping for. Now, Smith has revealed he’s working on a new Jay & Bob movie called ‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot‘. Here’s a description from the man himself.
“And so all last month, I had the time of my life laughing while writing “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” – a fun flick in which the Jersey boys have to go back to Hollywood to stop a brand new reboot of the old “Bluntman & Chronic Movie” they hated so much. It’s a tongue-in-cheek, silly-ass satire that pokes fun at the movie business’s recent re-do obsession, featuring an all-star cast of cameos and familiar faces! And I already met with the good folks at Miramax and they’re into it, so I’m hoping we’ll be shooting in the summer!”
There’s so much about this statement that confounds me. Let’s not even bother with rolling out the now middle-aged stoner duo for another misadventure. I’m more focused on the complete lack of awareness Smith seems to have about the nature of the project. A satire about Hollywood’s re-do obsession, using two out of date characters being dusted off for this way-too-meta attempt at being clever.
Basically Kevin Smith is using Hollywood’s re-do obsession as an excuse to justify another re-do. It feels so creatively misguided. Smith has spent more time in the well than Samara, spending a good chunk of the last decade trying to resuscitate stories and characters that were probably best left dead. And now that those trips back to the well have been cancelled, he’s going to satirize Hollywood’s obsession with not letting anything die using characters that he refuses to let die?
I wouldn’t be so presumptuous to tell Smith what he can and can’t do. But as a fan who enjoyed the first act and weathered the second, the third act of his career feels like a mambo of missteps and an arsenal of old ideas. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’d prefer Kevin Smith making films like Tusk and Yoga Hosers than dragging some of my favorite characters through an acre of broken glass he’s created trying to cram lightning back into a bottle.
To quote a line from the man himself: ‘Let the past be the past’.
Is it just me?
Anghus Houvouras
Originally published February 10, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
