Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Directed by Kevin Smith
- comedy
- adventure
- action
The story
When Jay and Silent Bob learn that their comic-book alter egos, Bluntman and Chronic, have been sold to Hollywood as part of a big-screen movie that leaves them out of any royalties, the pair travel to Tinseltown to sabotage the production.
What it’s like
Bright, flat suburban daylight gives way to sun-bleached Los Angeles glare, with saturated comic-book colour bursting into the frame whenever the film cuts to its heroes' fictional world. Handheld, loosely framed camera work sits beside cheap-looking sets and deliberately rough edges, so the picture feels scrappy and home-made, the sort of thing shot by friends with a borrowed camera and too many ideas. The soundtrack is a jumble of pop-rock needle drops and sudden sound effects, and the dialogue rattles along in profane, overlapping bursts. The vibe is loose, sweary and irreverent, with a self-aware wink at the audience on nearly every scene: a Saturday-night watch with friends, a comfort rewatch after a long week, or background to a few beers. Pacing is brisk and shambling, more interested in gags and cameos than in any steady build. The emotional register stays warm and goofy beneath the crude jokes, and the two lead characters, a pair of perpetually stoned slackers, drift toward a grudging loyalty to each other and to their own odd little world. Intensity is moderate: crude sexual humour, constant swearing, slapstick fights and cartoonish violence, but no real gore or cruelty. For fans of stoner comedy, Hollywood satire and Kevin Smith's chatty, self-mocking universe.
More films like Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and we’ll explain which ones fit you.
