Kevin Smiths third feature ranks as some of his finest work to date just going to show Smiths writing talent, how he can go from a wacky all out comedy like Mallrats to a frank, sweet and at times touching comedic love story.

It’s all about comic book writers Holden and Banky (Ben Affleck & Jason Lee), whose latest comic is Bluntman & Chronic, which was inspired by Smith regulars Jay and Silent Bob, and it is a best seller. But When Holden falls for a fellow comic writer named Alyssa Jones, things get rather heated for the duo. When Holden finds out that she is a lesbian he takes it pretty badly, but Banky finds it rather amusing. Eventually Holden and Alysa get it together much to the dismay of Banky who seems jealous of their relationship.

Hooper, Holden and Banky.

Smith handles this un-conformist love story very well, balancing out some really great serious acting scenes with his usual brand of well placed comedic dialogue. Being a comic fan boy himself Smtih makes fun of the industry. Notably in a scene at the beginning of the movie which involves Hooper. A fellow comic writer who is a gay black man and extremely camp, but puts on an act when on a panel and goes on a rant about how the Star Wars trilogy is about “...how the white man keeps the brother man down, even in a galaxy far, far away”.

Holden and Alyssa

Originally the film was going to be set in high school and have more of a John Hughes vibe to it, it would have been interesting to see how Smith would have handled it differently in that setting.

The film is a very personal film to Smith; it was his way of dealing with girlfriend’s pasts, and his real life relationship with Joey Lauren Adams who plays Alyssa in the movie. He says he finds the Diner scene with Jay and Silent Bob a strange one, as it is just him (as Silent Bob) opening up to his own characters.

Jay & Silent Bob

This is probably my second favourite of Smiths Jersey movies behind Clerks, and I can highly recommend it if you haven’t been exposed to his work yet.

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