Posted by Jim Shady at h-64-236-224-52.twi.com on February 07, 2002 at 08:21:05:
In Reply to: watched clerks for the first time posted by WestGodwin on February 07, 2002 at 05:06:27:
: I felt his character could have been much better, now at the time he wasn't actually written as the "Jay" of today but Jason Mewes talent was under utilized, that's right Jason Mewes talent was under utilized.
I thought Mewes was fine in Clerks - he was mainly used for comic relief, and it worked really well. Mallrats for me was where he (and indeed Bob) reached his zenith.
Jay and Silent Bob worked the best for me when they were used as support characters instead of the leads. Jay's character was too one-dimensional to work as a lead role, and because Bob was silent, he went a bit OTT on the facial expressions. Jay and Bob are the very personification of "less is more".
Don't get me wrong - I love them both, but I do think that it was always going to be a struggle to succeed in making the essentially shallow character of Jay the central focus. Bob has hidden depths, but it's hard to put that across when he doesn't speak for 99% of the time.
I'm sure the children will voice their outrage at my opinion if they are so minded, but it's something I've thought long and hard about - and it is just an opinion.
Jim