JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK
Theatrical release: August 24, 2001

Starring: Jason Mewes
Actors: Kevin Smith Joey Lauren Adams Ben Affleck 
Writer and Director: Kevin Smith 
Rated: R (MPAA) for nonstop strong language, pervasive crude and sexual humor, and for drug content, and some violence
Run Length: 104 min

Movie Review By Blake French:
- Zero stars: See it and die!

Hollywood is in a fierce competition this year: who can release the most terrible movies before the 2001 movie year comes to an end—and it couldn’t come soon enough. There have been countless contenders for worst film of the year as to date, but do any of them compare with this movie? Even "Pootie Tang," "Joe Dirt," and "Saving Silverman" displayed a greater level of intelligence than this worthless, pointless sack of cow dung. They portrayed human beings and showbiz as harmless, sweet nature elements of modern culture.

"Jay and Silent Bob" doesn’t even do that. Kevin Smith, director of such overrated raunchy comedies like "Chasing Amy," "Clerks," and "Dogma," have directed a movie here beyond average human comprehension. It is not possible for any mature, civilized member of society to connect with such a brainless mess of dirty jokes and crude humor. No intellectual moviegoer will laugh at the mind-numbing array of insults and circumstances that transpire on screen.

I guess you can call this a movie, but it’s more like an experiment of immature filmmakers mocking themselves. You would get the same quality of filmmaking if you gave a bunch of eighth graders a professional movie camera and sound equipment, and told them to run off and have fun. The only difference is that these guys are big stars with big bucks—and the eighth graders might be smarter.

"Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" contains many, many familiar names in the cast list—shame on all of them. Famous, appreciated actors, directors, writers, and singers show their faces to these moronic filmmakers who simply want to exploit their unfunny, dysfunctional sense of humor to American masses. Some of the material has satirical potential; it’s fun to watch these celebrities making fun of their own cinematic body of work. Unfortunately the needless foulness and inanity of this movie destroy any fun ironies or effective moments. Not even fans of Smith’s previous work will appreciate this ugly, unpleasant trash.

The plot: Jay (Jason Mewes), a puke-inducing, profanity spewing pothead, and his friend Silent Bob (Kevin Smith), who seldom says a word, learn that a "Bluntman and Chronic" movie is in the production process. The movie contains characters based on their comic book counterparts, and they have not received a dime in royalties yet. The two drug buddies venture across America to sabotage the movie at all costs. Along with way, they try to give a nun oral sex, make friends with an orangutan, fall in love with beautiful jewel thieves, smoke some joints with Scooby Doo and friends, interrupt various movies in the making, and even fight Mark Hamill in a retarded "Star Wars" spoof.

The characters recite their dialogue as if they are detached to everything around them. They need to wake up and realize they’re on planet earth. I am not immune to laughing at dirty jokes about sex and drugs, but they need to be funny. Acting stupid on camera is not funny. We learned that after "Freddie Got Fingered." Humor can evolve from sex, drugs, nudity, and parody, but actors pretending to be stupid people who discuss such things in front of a camera operator just doesn’t tickle our funny bones. The humor in this concept would be in Jay and Bob’s realization of social maturity—there is potential in a well-written script on these ideas. Too bad the movie simply introduces more stupid characters, time and time again, providing us with more and more unfunny, wasted material. It takes the wrong approach entirely.

What’s with Kevin Smith’s obsession with the "f" word? Does he think it’s funny to say the "f" word. Fuck. I said it. Are you laughing? I did not think so. This movie contains nonstop usage of the notorious phrase, in every conceivable style and sentence, probably over three hundred times. It serves no purpose here. Profanity can be beneficial to movies, especially during moments of extreme tension or anger, for character development, or if given the perfect comic timing. The "f" word itself does not evoke laughs. In "Jay and Silent Bob," a baby, probably not even a year old, utters several of those expletives. That’s not funny. It’s alarming, unsettling that we, as a society, have come so low that our sense of humor now revolves around four letter words projected from the mouths of infants. How sad to laugh at such disturbing material.

I could go on and on about this movie. My warnings go out to you all: nobody deserves to sit through this movie. However, here’s the funny thing. The screening where I saw "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" was a sellout performance. Fans of Jay and Bob were literally standing in the aisles because there were not enough seats for those who decided they would sneak into the showing. Throughout the film, the entire audience was in stitches—laughing hysterically. Did I miss the joke. I don’t think so—I was watching the same movie. I just have a higher standard of humor for myself than laughing at a movie that insults me and its own kind. If your idea of a good time is to do drugs and frankly discuss sexuality with others, than this might just be your movie. I left the theater feeling sad and angry.