Movie Event Review: "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Roadshow" (2019) / Q&A with Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes
Objectivity. The key word is objectivity. The definition of objectivity is: the lack of favoritism toward one side or another; also freedom from bias. You’re a reviewer, a critic, a journalist- your job is to be objective and present “just the facts”. Surely you can do that…
…Who the fuck am I kidding?! This is Kevin fucking Smith and Jason fucking Mewes a.k.a. Jay and Silent Bob, before my very fucking eyes to introduce their return to the big screen and then do a Q&A afterwards! How can you possibly be objective when you get to share a room with two of your honest-to-God heroes, a pair of true American originals, the voices of your generation? It’s the kind of experience you wait a lifetime for. Objectivity is noble, but let’s be honest- FUCK OBJECTIVITY.
The time is the evening of Saturday, November 2nd, 2019. The place is the historic Texas Theatre in Dallas, Texas. In a room filled to bursting capacity with marks like myself and my wife, Cindy, the man himself enters to ludicrously thunderous applause. Dressed in his customary jorts and blazer combo, the now healthy and thin filmmaker finally has to tell us all to “sit the fuck down!” after it all gets a little ridiculous. Next, he introduces the one and only Jason Mewes to equally thunderous applause, which he soaks up like lotion on a soon to be spanked monkey. They treat us to a trio of advertising spots for the show sponsor, Audible, which are balls-out hilarious. Those two have a magical chemistry together that can’t be topped. Who knew you could laugh so hard at a friggin’ ad?!
Kevin tells us that he will be in the back of the theater watching with us and even recording our reactions and that he uses the ads as a litmus test for the audience. I’m sure he was back there, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen once the film started. I’ll do my best to curb the fanboy approach, though I’ll surely fail miserably.
THE MOVIE ITSELF:
True to real life, a couple of decades have passed in the View Askewniverse since the events of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks 2, etc. Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) are running an illegal dispensary in the former home of RST Video, now known as Cock Smokers Baked Chicken Sandwiches. They’re busted by the Leonardo P.D. and dragged into court where they’re conned into giving up the rights to their very names by a shyster Hollywood lawyer named Brandon St. Randy (Justin Long; Zach and Miri Make a Porno). There’s a reboot of the Bluntman and Chronic movie being made, and they’re being screwed out of their rights and very identity. You know what that means- it’s time to go BACK to Hollywood to stop another movie about them from being made…again.
The need for a detailed plot synopsis stops there. I don’t say that as a knock; it’s just that the whole thing is so convoluted and windy that I’d be writing for the next couple of hours (minimum) and giving up a metric fuckton of spoilers. And trust me- you don’t want that with this movie. There are so many returning faces, so many cameos, so many easter eggs that I couldn’t spoil them all even if I wanted to. Stacked doesn’t even begin to describe the cast for what Kevin Smith likened to the ultimate high school reunion.
There’s the returning alumni: Dante Hicks (Brian O’Halloran), Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee), Holden McNeill (Ben Affleck), Loki the Angel of Death (Matt Damon), Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), Justice (Shannon Elizabeth), & The Security Guard (Diedrich Bader).
Looking for some View Askew favorites in different/new roles? How about Miss McKenzie, the Mooby’s Manager (Jennifer Scwalbach Smith). You’ll love Judge Jerry N. Executioner (Craig Robinson). Keep your eyes peeled for Marilyn Ghigliotti (Clerks) as herself. There’s the original Hollywood Bluntman & Chronic, James Van Der Beek and Jason Biggs. You’re treated to ALL of the Comic Book Men (including Walt Flanagan sans dog). And (thank God) there’s a nice dose of the amazing Rosario Dawson as Reggie.
Cap all that off with a slew of killer newcomers: Melissa Benoist (Supergirl), Chris Hemsworth (The Avengers), Joe Manganiello (Magic Mike), Val Kilmer (Tombstone), pro wrestling legend and rockstar Chris Jericho, Fred Armisen (SNL), Kevin Coogan (Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead), Molly Shannon (SNL), rap legends Method Man and Redman (How High), Kate Micucci (Steven Universe), Hollywood Babble-On co-host Ralph Garman, Impractical Jokers Brian Quinn, & even The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman!
The star of the new kids (and show stealer) is Kevin’s daughter, Harley Quinn Smith as Jay’s daughter, Millennium Falcon a.k.a. “Milly”. She’s a force of nature. Showing a range that belies her age and some damn fine comedic timing, her chemistry with America’s favorite stoners is (understandably) on-point. You’ll be surprised at not only how deep and believable her relationship with Jason Mewes is but also how much emotional weight is behind it. I didn’t expect to be crying during this movie, but I’ll be goddamned if I didn’t end up doing just that! It’s an impressive turn that works on every level while enhancing the comedy.
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is a celebration of the View Askewniverse made for the fans by pop culture’s resident oracle. There are plenty of folks out there who aren’t into Smith’s work, and that is just fine. What those people don’t realize is that, since 1994, he’s crafted a cinematic universe (before Marvel ever thought of it!) that shaped the character of a generation and gave us a voice and an entire vocabulary. It’s not uncommon in my household for the question to be posed (on a bad day) if the encore is to anally rape my mother while pouring sugar in my gas tank. When we’re out of munchies, there are indeed “no snacks here, man!” Snowball is often quoted in times of awesomeness. You get the idea.
The point is that Smith has created a rather unique film that doesn’t have to answer to Hollywood standards. Instead, it’s a fuck you to the system, and it works beautifully. The fans will love it. The haters will definitely hate it. It’s not a movie that you could go into without being well versed in all the jokes of the last 25 years. It’s a damn funny film, but it’s a film that has some “required reading” involved, so to speak. That being said, the best way to describe Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is simply that it’s a reward and a thank you from Smith and Mewes their fans, a treat that will get a ton of utterly stoned rewatches. It might be my favorite film in the entire Askewniverse.
The Q&A:
If you’ve ever seen a Kevin Smith interview or one of his spoken word / stand-up performances, then you know how devastatingly quick-witted he is. A natural storyteller, Smith doesn’t end up taking many questions because he’s so talkative. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just that a Kevin Smith Q&A doesn’t always work like the typical Q&A.
He brought the sold-out crowd to their feet with the surprise appearance of Harley Quinn, who happened to be in DFW for the shooting of a pilot. Yes!! After another bout of thunderous applause, we now had a trio on stage.
He gushed over the performances of Harley and Jason together (and rightly so). The pride in his voice was quite evident, and it was clear that he got what he wanted out of this movie- a film that featured two of the most important people in his life showing their skills and making real emotion and humor. He spoke about how awesome it was to be able to have Ben Affleck back in the fold after their falling out, and how excited Joey Lauren Adams was for this. He wrote an 8-minute scene for them that became, in essence, the sequel-epilogue to Chasing Amy. It’s a wonderful turn from Affleck that honestly had me wiping my cheeks and holding my breath (along with the rest of the audience). It may be the finest scene he’s ever written, and I can only imagine how great it was to have one of the great actors of our day performing it.
Jason spoke about having his daughter, Logan, in the film. It’s so much fun to watch him now after all he’s been through and persevered. His pride as a father is evident, and he has truly become a fine actor. He spoke about growing up without a father and how he parents because of it. This led to a riotous story from Kevin about how he met Jason in the library at the rec center that, while it’s been told before, never gets old. I think I pissed myself a bit laughing at that one.
Kevin then dropped the bombshell on us all that not only are we getting more time in the View Askewniverse with the upcoming Clerks 3, but we are also finally getting the believed-to-be-dead Mallrats 2!! He laughed about how critics give him shit for going back to the well over and over, but after the heart attack he’s making the movies that he wants to make and the movies the fans want to see. I cannot properly describe the delirious joy in that room. He said they were in Austin the night before and he thought that crowd wouldn’t be topped…until Dallas. Were we the best crowd? That’s rhetorical. Of course we were. It’s not hyperbole to say it was the best audience experience of my life, and I’ve been to cons, screenings, and even Wrestlemanias!
There’s a line in the movie (delivered by Justice) about Jay having a million dollar heart and a nickel brain. That’s a funny one. The handful of questions taken were standard fare, and the answers (aside from what I’ve already mentioned) blurred into a flood of funny stories and love between the three on stage. I mention that line because it’s a perfect summary of the world Smith has created for the last quarter of a century- often dismissed as stoner humor or lowbrow comedy, but that’s a hideously inapt way to look at it. Smith’s creation has given my generation, my people, a mirror of our own “million dollar hearts and nickel brains” and shown us how that is worth celebrating.
That’s beautiful, man.
