Whew...it didn't suck.

I can honestly say I enjoyed this film a lot more than I was expecting to. While it is basically a cliched film, it is well done cliche.

The plus points right up front. Ben Affleck hasn't been this good in a long time and he should send a very nice thank you note to Kevin Smith for letting him play something other than a muscle bound block of wood.

Positive Point 2. The Kid. Gertrude, Gertie (Raquel Castro). The kid is good, and in a downright eerie way she does seem to draw to mind the type of child that Affleck and Lopez would have spawned.

Positive Point 3. The Peanut Gallery. George Carlin, always aces in my book. Mike Starr (who was always so great on Ed) and the inimitable Stephen Root (NewsRadio. I just wish Root had a bigger part...but what kind of sense would that make?

Positive Point 4. Kevin Smith's dialogue. In his own way, he could be compared to David Mamet. The man makes his own films with his own stylized dialogue and only certain performers can pull it off. Here endeth the comparison.

Which leads me to the negative points.

(Forgive me for this one). Liv Tyler. Sweet, sure. Cute, yeah, she has that cornered...but sometimes she just couldn't pull off the dialogue necessary to really get across the flippant tones that hide the core emotions.

Cutting the wedding scene...Smith's one fault as a director here. The cinematography in a Smith film has never been more...well, professional and/or accessible. You pick the word you prefer. But his one choice of cutting the wedding scene may be a nice nod to either Affleck or Lopez or it may have been a nice way of not kicking a man when he is done but what it does to the film is leave the audience missing three things. One, jumping to the conclusion from a proposal to immediate pregnancy and maybe a wedding has taken place, maybe not (in this day and age does it really matter?). Two, leaves out a core day of the two leads that we are supposed to be immediately investing our emotions in. And 3 (this is for my girlfriend), never lets us see the wedding dress that gets a mention in the thank you credits in the end credits.

A few plot holes. Hey, give Smith credit for creating a formulaic film that is as entertaining as it is but still there are some logic gaps.

Why couldn't Ollie Trinke have left Gertie with a nanny while he was still working with the advertising company, he obviously could afford it. Where was Gertrude's side of the family (although if there is a history of dying at childbirth at least 50% of that family could be explained away).

I have heard and read a lot about this film, which is surprising since Affleck and Lopez are so rarely in the public eye. I have to say I liked the film. Solid enough to give it a 4 star rating out of 5. Why, you ask? Because Smith leaves no one behind. For his always steady roster of talent he brings back Affleck, Carlin, Jason Biggs, Matt Damon and Jason Lee for cameos and for his fans he has the obligatory Star Wars reference ('punch it Chewie') and by keeping a film about a man dealing with the loss of his wife and the joys of child rearing rife with jokes about masturbation, porn and Will Smith.

Chasing Amy still ranks number one, Clerks and Dogma rank at an equal second place and I can add Jersey Girl to that list. For the record we then have Jay and Silent Bob before we get to Mall Rats.

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Copyright© Written By: Rob Paul
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