Jersey Girl

Director: Kevin Smith Kevin Smith

Overview

This comedic drama from cult director Kevin Smith marks the filmmaker's first movie to not feature Jay, Silent Bob, and the other characters of the universe created in his first five films. Ben Affleck stars as Ollie Trinke, a fast-talking music promoter, who finds his life turned upside down when he is faced with the pleasures and pitfalls of marriage and fatherhood after falling in love with Gertrude Steiney (Jennifer Lopez). Set in 1996, the film is loosely based on Smith's own experiences as a father. George Carlin, Jason Biggs, and Liv Tyler also star.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/23/2021
UPC:	0032429351821
Original Release:	2004
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Miramax
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00
Sales rank:	14,515

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ben Affleck	Ollie Trinke
Liv Tyler	Maya
Raquel Castro	Gertie Trinke
George Carlin	Bart Trinke
Jennifer Lopez	Gertrude Steiney
Jason Biggs	Arthur Brickman
Mike Starr	Block
Stephen Root	Greenie
Matthew Cloran	Anthony
Paulie Litowsky	Bryan
Charles Gilbert	Sweeney Todd
Charles McCloskey	Sweeney Victim
Betty Aberlin	Teacher
Matt McFarland	Boy No. 1
Sarah Stafford	Girl No. 1
Christian Fan	Boy No. 3
Victor Chavez	Boy No. 4
William Mace	Boy No. 5
S. Epatha Merkerson	Doctor No. 1
Carol Florence	Doctor No. 2
Jada Copeland Goodman	ER Nurse
Alice Schaerer	Nurse No. 1
Brian Delaney	Nurse No. 2
Matt Maher	Delivery Guy
Robert McKay	Press No. 1
Ernie O'Donnell	Press No. 2,Press #2
Cymande Lewis	Press No. 3
Dan Etheridge	Press No. 4
Mark Jwayad	Press No. 5
Jason Lee	PR Exec No. 1
Matt Damon	PR Exec No. 2
Tom Cleary	Comptroller
John Willyung	Townie
Edward Janda	Town Clapper
Jennifer Schwalbach Smith	Susan
Will Smith	Himself (uncredited)
James L. Venable	Composer
Paulie Litt	Actor
Robert G. Mckay	Press #1

Technical Credits

Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith	Director,Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Conrad F. Brink	Special Effects
Jonathan Gordon	Executive Producer,Producer
Kory Jones	Special Effects
Avy Kaufman	Casting
Tom McComas	Stunts
Scott Mosier	Producer
Bob Weinstein	Executive Producer,Executive Producer,Producer,Producer
Sandy Alexander	Stunts
David Acord	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

Filmmaker Kevin Smith, a Garden State native who cut his directorial eyeteeth on the gritty indie Clerks, completes his gradual move into the mainstream with Jersey Girl, a formulaic romantic comedy that relies on Smith’s sharp dialogue and winning performances by Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler to give it some edge. Ben plays a hard-charging New York publicist who seems to have it all: great job, luxurious Manhattan lifestyle, and a gorgeous wife (portrayed by Affleck’s ex-fiancé, Jennifer Lopez); but he goes to pieces after she dies in childbirth. He loses his high-powered job, moves back to New Jersey with his young daughter, and takes a dead-end job as a laborer. He spends the next seven years in a funk, snapping out of it only when a kooky video store clerk (Tyler) takes a romantic interest in him. Jersey Girl is a real departure for Smith; it doesn’t have the shiftless stoners, profane dialogue, or outrageous situations commonly found in his films. And he tones down his customary reliance on pop culture references, too. Instead, he focuses on developing the story’s principal characters, making them warm and believable. Affleck is not only credible but also sympathetic as the long-bereaved dad fearful of surrendering his heart to another woman. Tyler, who has seemed flat and colorless in her few outings as a conventional ingénue, lights up the screen as the honest, irrepressible, slightly odd young woman he reluctantly falls for. George Carlin is appropriately gruff as Affleck’s blue-collar dad, and little Raquel Castro manages to be cute but not cloying as the daughter. The working-class New Jersey milieu is accurately depicted, and the characters are so engaging that we’re willing to forgive Smith when he drags in threadbare narrative devices to bring the story to a satisfactory conclusion.