Posted by smithfan37 at c-24-8-210-6.client.comcast.net on March 22, 2004 at 20:26:04:
In Reply to: Here's my thing with Roeper's opinion... posted by miss d on March 22, 2004 at 12:53:24:
The trouble getting to the school play really seems to be a sticking point, doesn't it?
Well, here's the deal:
Most films have a "chase" scene. Maybe it's the ultimate chase scene like in Blues Brothers, maybe it's Marty McFly racing against time to reach the clock tower at 10:04. Maybe it's the angry villagers going after Frankenstein's Monster in the 1931 Frankenstein. The fact that Kevin has a scene with a character racing against time should be completely acceptable to reviewers.
That justifies the premise. Now to justify the execution.
Kevin provides the necessary set-up. The viewers know the schedule is tight. They know there will be traffic. They have been warned of an impending road closure (spell?). Kevin does his plot work ahead of time, which permits the sequence. The scene is well executed.
Although I can't help but wonder how Affleck got trapped by his own road closure. Surely he should have known it would be there. Maybe a small, but forgivable, mistake there.
So what are these critics bitching about? That we know how the chase will end? Well, yeah, we know how every chase will end, don't we?
Maybe Roeper had a point about something. He said 10 years ago, Kevin Smith would make fun of the chase scene. He's probably right. If you want to say the chase scene is too mainstream for Kevin Smith who can use better plot devices, then fine. The problem is, though, that's saying that Jersey Girl is not the best KEVIN SMITH film. Strip away your preconceived notions of what makes a good KEVIN SMITH film and judge the film on it's own merit as a movie and not as a film by Kevin Smith, and the movie will hold up fine. I think that the critics bashing the film because it has a chase scene is akin to the fans bashing the film because it has no Silent Bob. I've seen plenty of films without Silent Bob that I've liked. If folks throw out the "Rules for What Kevin Should Do" book and just take the film at face value, even the chase scene fares well.
As to his "characters aren't 3D" gripe, he's just wrong.
As to his Affleck is a crappy actor gripe, I don't know what to say. I like Affleck in this film. I have a friend who hates Affleck. She says he smirks all the time, and I think there is SOME truth to it. What she sees as annoying, I see as charming. If he doesn't like the actor, well, that's going to be hard for him to get over. I have actors I hate too.
Setting all of the crap aside, though, I'd have to say that Ebert's praise is generally more accurate than Roeper's criticism. I'm not going to go so far as to say ther Roeper is a dumbass, but I just don't agree with his complaints this time around.