Customer Reviews
DIsjoined Melodrama Has Some Redeeming Value - By: F. Sweet, 14 Mar 2008 
Some reviewers have taken Will Smith to task for not making another brilliant & hilarious film like his "religious comedy," 'Dogma.' But Will's romantic comedy starring Ben Affleck as hot, hard driving, aggressive Manhattan publicist Ollie Trinke is not intended to be cerebral. Moreover, watching the sweet little girl actor Raquel Castro portraying Ollie's complex daughter Gertie is a delight. Affleck's acting in this film ranges from O.K. to excellent. But Castro's is consistently quite brilliant. She couldn't have been more than 9 - 10 years old at the time of filming. Moreover, Castro bore a remarkable resemblance to Jennifer Lopez whose daughter she portrays.
We relatively briefly see Lopez in the beginning of 'Jersey Girl' playing Ollie's wife Gertrude who dies in childbirth while having Gertie. Smith has to have some offbeat characters in his movies, & so Ollie's crusty, plain speaking old dad Bart (George Carlin) & his widower's eventual love interest Maya (Liv Tyler -- who had co-starred with Affleck in Armageddon) fill the bill. At one point, when Ollie admits to Maya (a video store clerk who's a sociology graduate student) that he hasn't had sex ever since his wife had died seven years ago, shocked & overcome with compassion she offers to give him -- still a relative stranger -- a "mercy jump."
There are plenty of flaws in this movie which have made not a few other reviewers grumble. But just because 'Jersey Girl' is not simply just another brilliant Will Smith movie is no reason to over react to it. Why some who have commmented here couldn't seem to stand it is a mystery. This is an entertaining film which is what filmmaking is alll about.
Not Will's most brilliant work, still it is worth seeing & succeeds in doing what it was intended to do. Entertain. Sweet movie, alll in alll.
A VERY UNDERRATED FILM WHICH I REALLY ENJOYED - By: stuart, 19 Nov 2007 
Kevin Smith took a giant step in his career by making this film. It was a move that could potentiallly either heighten or destroy his career. He moved away from the "stoner" flick. He dropped the safety net known as Jay & Silent Bob. The end product was a beautiful, heartfelt film that Smith & everyone involved should be very proud of.
Anyone who thinks Ben Affleck is a bad actor needs to take a look at this film. This was by far Ben Affleck's best performance. He definitely portrayed his range as an actor, & it is a high range indeed. His performance surprised even me, & I LIKE Affleck. Liv Tyler's performance is as beautiful as she is, George Carlin is hysterical, & Jennifer Lopez dies. But her 15 minute presence in the movie was very good, & her chemistry with Affleck was right on for the short amount of screen time they had together. Raquel Castro showed us an incredible debut. Her presence lit up the screen. The film belonged to her & Affleck, & for a 7-year-old girl, she is an incredible actress.
The strength of the performers aside, the best part of this film is the best part of every other Kevin Smith film: the writing. Kevin Smith's characters are made to be real. They aren't given these profound, dramatic, we-want-an-Oscar quotes, but rather, things you can believe people saying. Gertie's lines were actual lines that you would reallly hear a girl that age saying, not some witty, overly cute, sitcomish one-liners intent on forcing the audience to find the kid cute. Rather, the humor in this film is very, very natural. One could argue that it isn't a comedy at alll, just a drama with some reallly, reallly, funny moments.
Alas, I had to hold myself back from crying on several occasions. I've shed enough tears this year over the Passion, I refuse to cry at more than one movie in the same year. So I held myself, but just barely. Jersey Girl is a real tear jerker. Whether or not the moment is sad, I found myself holding back tears & muttering under my breath "Damn you, Smith. Damn you." While the film didn't make any tears run down my cheek, I reallly had to fight to keep the tears from coming down. And I am not one who cries at movies. Sensitive moviegoers, bring tissues.
Jersey Girl isn't Kevin Smith's best cinematic endeavor, but its his most sincere. Naysayers say what you will, but you cannot deny one man's most personal, heartfelt work. And a film that comes from the heart is something that needs to be treasured.
Enjoyable - By: Madge the Badge, 15 Nov 2007 This movie was reallly good, not great, but good. There are some super funny scenes, such as where there's a elementary school contest & someone enters a scene from Sweeney Todd, but there's also some very emotional scenes, especiallly between father & daughter. I was crying at one point. A worthwhile movie.
I can't believe it was this bad!!! - By: A. Mc, 27 Jun 2007 
I had to stop this movie 40mins in, I just could not waste anymore of my life watching this car crash of a film. It is absolutely dire. I can't believe it was picked up, I can't believe there are so many actors who agreed to be in it.
OK I am not the biggest Kevin Smith fan in the world but like his other work. Likewise I am not the biggest Rom Com fan but I do enjoy the classics & I like a cheesy chick flick every now & again.
I do love good quality films with interesting storyline, scripts, & direction.
This film had none of the above.
I hate to give it such a slating, it pains me to trash such a promising directing talent but this film is a shocking watse of money. Not least when you think of the films that could have been funded by the studio if this one had not been made.
Not that bad, but a disappointingly mediocre effort from Kevin Smith - By: Franklin T Marmoset, 02 Apr 2007 Poor old Kevin Smith. With the putrid stench of Gigli hanging heavy in the air, he unleashed his first step away from the Jay & Silent Bob films on which he built his career with this film starring Ben Affleck and, to a lesser extent, Jennifer Lopez. It was like tossing fresh meat to a pack of blood simple wolves. The film is the story of music publicist Ollie, who loses his wife during childbirth & moves back to New Jersey to raise his new daughter & turn into kind of a jerk.
This isn't an awful film, & it's far better than the aforementioned Gigli, but there's something heartbreaking about seeing Smith turn his hand to such generic, pedestrian fare. Having established himself as that rarity in modern film making - a writer/director with a distinct voice of his own - this is a film shorn of his idiosyncrasies that feels like something you've seen a dozen times before. Smith makes a break for the bland mainstream here, & the tragedy is not that he fails but that he succeeds.
That said, this is by no means a bad one, & it didn't deserve the kicking it got from critics when it was released. If you can make it through the choppy, episodic first half hour, what you get is Ben Affleck giving one of his better performances, a very sweet relationship between the father & his daughter, & the adorable Liv Tyler adding a real warmth to the film. If you close your eyes & pretend this is from another director (or if you don't know or care who Kevin Smith is), you might even enjoy Jersey Girl's schmaltzy, sentimental story. For fans, however, this is a disappointing trip into mediocrity.
