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Never It's Own Girl Favorite Movie Quote: "I hate you right back you little sh*t! You and your mom took my life away from me. I just want it back!" I can never understand, in a world in which Paris Hilton is anything but a prostitute, the level of disapproval and distain leveled at Ben Affleck or Jennifer Lopez. While I will admit that Gigli (pronounced giggly by me) was not a good movie, the level to which it was villified was excessive to the point that it dragged down Jersey Girl which, while perhaps a bit trite and not a great film, was a decent movie that was heartfelt. In Jersey Girl, publicist Ollie Trinke (Ben Affleck) and his wife, elementary school teacher Gertrude (Jennifer Lopez), are living a blessed life in the Big Apple and are about to have a baby. Due to complications with the pregnancy, Gertrude dies in childbirth. In an effort to avoid dealing with his loss and natural resentment, Ollie moves in with his father Bart (George Carlin) and leaves the care of his daughter Gertie (Raquel Castro when no longer a baby) to him. Shortly thereafter, Bart forces Ollie to deal with his pain and his child. What was most memorable to me about Jersey Girl was the entirety of the relationship between Ollie and his daughter Gertie. Like life, having a child as a single parent wasn't a slam-dunk for Ollie. He went from having a successful career and beautiful wife to living with his father and taking care of an infant without a partner to lean on. Anyone who's in this situation that tells you they never wish things could've worked out differently is lying to you and themselves. It's natural that there are moments when Ollie resents Gertie and life builds to a point where he explodes. But, ultimately, you love your kids as Ollie loves Gertie. What hurts Jersey Girl is that while it has playful dialog, it's filtered in a way that Smith is clearly not as comfortable with as he is letting it fly, so at times the dialog is somewhat predictable and... commonplace. One of the charms of Smith's writing is that there is always at least one character, usually Jay (Jason Mewes), that speaks with absolutely no filter. The closest thing here is George Carlin, but it's not nearly enough to placate the View Askew hordes. What's Smith to do? On the one hand, there is an element of snobbery from the independent film community that says Smith is selling out to do a film like this. On the other hand there is a level of political c*cksucking that is part of filmmaking in Hollywood of which Smith and (producer) Mosier want no part. If he continues to wade about in the shallow pool that is the Viewaskewniverse he's likely going to whither and die. He may lack the capacity or desire to take the next step without Mosier around to hold his hand. May he find the balance. email this review to a friend
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May 8, 2008 11:00 PM
It does have that great scene when Pacino blows the dude's brains into the fish tank and all the fish start eating the chunks - inventive and funny.