Jersey Girl (2004)

Director:

Kevin Smith

Writer (WGA):

Kevin Smith (written by)

Release Date:

26 March 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Forget about who you thought you were, and just accept who you are.

Plot:

After his career is sidelined from an unexpected tragedy and a personal blowup, a single man must take care of his precocious daughter.

Plot Keywords:

Baby | Publicist | New Jersey | Video Store Clerk | Public Relations

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Betty Aberlin	...	Teacher
Matt McFarland	...	Boy #1
Sarah Stafford	...	Girl #1
Paulie Litt	...	Bryan (as Paulie Litowsky)
Christian Fan	...	Boy #3
Victor Chavez	...	Boy #4
William Mace	...	Boy #5
Raquel Castro	...	Gertie Trinke
Ben Affleck	...	Ollie Trinke
Jennifer Schwalbach Smith	...	Susan (as Jennifer Schwalbach)
Jennifer Lopez	...	Gertrude Steiney
George Carlin	...	Bart Trinke
Stephen Root	...	Greenie
Mike Starr	...	Block
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Doctor #1

Also Known As:

Fatherhood Project (USA) (working title)
Untitled Kevin Smith Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 on appeal for language and sexual content including frank dialogue.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | Netherlands:6 | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:6 | South Korea:12 | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:PG | Finland:K-11 | Hong Kong:IIA | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG (original rating) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (re-rating on appeal) (certificate #39360) | USA:R (original rating) | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

New Jersey, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

In addition to the videos in the video store being Miramax titles, one of Kevin Smith's previous films makes an appearance. A copy of Dogma (1999) can be seen on display on the top of the rack to Ollie's right in the first scene in the store (as Gertie picks up the Men in Black (1997) box). It is the video furthest away from us and is partially obscured.

Goofs:

Continuity: Gertie's gravestone indicated she died (in childbirth) on June 1, yet she was extremely pregnant in the scene where she was preparing to attend the Video Music Awards, which are held in late summer/early fall. Ollie and Gertie should have been preparing for the MTV Movie Awards, or else Gertie delivered about 6 months overdue.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Teacher: Everyone, please take your seats. You heard the bell. You know what it means. Last week, the assignment was to write an essay about your family. Who they...
Teacher: [class: "Are!"] And what they...
Teacher: [class: "Mean to us!"] Excellent droning.

Movie Connections:

References Dirty Dancing (1987)

Soundtrack:

High

I left this on the shelf far too long

So after reading many a disconsolate review from Kevin Smith fans I decided to purchase the DVD anyway. Yet all the negative comments had left their toll on me and the DVD stayed on the shelf in its shrink wrapper for FAR TOO LONG. You motor heads! Yes this movie is sweet and yes it's sometimes even sickly but it's endearing and moving. Ben Athleck switches in and out of competence a few too many times to make his performance IMO a completely solid one but frankly he does a good job of holding all the disparate threads of the movie together.

If you want to live in 1994 dick & fart jokes then simply put Clerks in the DVD player and play it again! However each of Kevin's films go someway in their own right into the exploration of inter-personal relationships and the impact of consequence in our daily lives. Jersey Girl is no different in this respect than Clerks.