Jersey Girl

Synopsis: Ollie Trinkie (Ben Affleck) is a successful young music publicist living in Manhattan and is incredibly in love with his girlfriend (Jennifer Lopez). They marry, and have a baby, but circumstances force Ollie and his daughter back home to his father (George Carlin) in New Jersey. Ollie dreams of going back to a Manhattan lifestyle one day, whilst his daughter (Raquel Castro) is perfectly happy with an 'ordinary' life in New Jersey. Is Ollie willing to compromise her life for his dreams? Will he ever learn to be happy with what he's got?

Jersey Girl, a film steeped in mainstream schmaltz, is a big change of direction for director and writer Kevin Smith well known for such potty-mouthed indie hits as Clerks and Chasing Amy. But having said that, the film still does work on a number of levels, mainly due to Smith's wit and the on-screen chemistry of the actors.

The film still has elements of the classic Smith way of looking at life and that's what sets Jersey Girl apart from the other cobs in the corn pack. Where else can you see a video rental girl (Liv Tyler) interrogate a customer about his sexual practices after he tries to hire a porn video discretely whilst with his daughter? And, even though there is a lot of sugar in the film, there's no Hollywood mushy romance, just some refreshingly pleasant and funny scenes between Affleck and Tyler.

Even some sentimental scenes come across as real - mostly due to the outstanding acting of Castro who has an amazing ability to suck you in. By being a real cute kid as opposed to contrived Hollywood cute you really believe her, for example, when she gazes adoringly at her dad for managing to make it to her school play..

And who would have thought Ben Affleck was a good actor? (OK, he was good in Good Will Hunting). Here he does grief, he does humor, and he does ordinary really well. Affleck will probably never be one of the greatest actors of our time, but Smith manages to bring out the best in him. Lopez does OK if you use Oscar-winning Nicole Kidman's acting as a benchmark but Tyler does a wonderful turn as the girl-next-door at the video store and possible love interest. For an inane film, she navigates her scenes with feeling and manages to 'keep it real'.

All the actors have a great on-screen chemistry together. It looks like it was a fun movie to make and it's that affection the actors have for each other, as well as Smith's wry and witty observations of  New Jersey working class and Manhattan yuppies that makes this sappy film enjoyable.

 

 

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