The Set of 400: #208 – My Favorite Internet Troll Comeuppance

Today! Because Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms –

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)

Directed by Kevin Smith (x2)

Starring Jason Mewes (x2), Kevin Smith (x2), Ben Affleck (x2), Jason Lee, Matt Damon (x2), Chris Rock (x3), Will Ferrell (x2), Shannon Elizabeth (x2), Eliza Dushku, Jon Stewart, Judd Nelson (x2), Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher (x2), Jamie Kennedy (x2), Wes Craven, Gus Van Sant, Shannen Doherty, James Van Der Beek, Jason Biggs (x2), Jeff Anderson (x2), Brian O’Halloran (x2), Ali Larter, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, George Carlin, Seann William Scott (x5), Tracy Morgan, Diedrich Bader, Joey Lauren Adams, Alanis Morissette, Morris Day and the Time, William B. Davis

Okay, if you are ready to jump down my throat at the inclusion of this film, take a gander at these two list facts: 1) This is the second and final Kevin Smith to make appearance, meaning 2) This is my favorite Kevin Smith movie. SHUT UP! I fully recognize that virtually all of his movies are better than this – Clerks, Mallrats, maybe Chasing Amy, maybe Dogma, Clerks II, Zach and Miri Make a Porno – and like most people I haven’t seen anything he’s made in the last ten years. But none of his movies are funnier than Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. I don’t care what you say.

It’s funny, right?

Sure, it drowns in self-reflexive inside jokes and celebrity cameos mocking their former projects. It doesn’t really work as the Hollywood parody it pretends to be, so loopy are the movies-within-the-movies, but this might tip you off why I rank it so high (favorite sub-genre!). Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season is a particularly hilarious bit. And yeah, it’s got a lot of wildly vulgar, crass, dated jokes, but it also features terrifically committed performances, especially Will Ferrell’s clueless Marshal Willenholly and Chris Rock’s crazy director Chaka Luther King. Morris Day and the Time make their greatest film contribution ever (suck it, Graffiti Bridge!) to close out the movie with a typically fantastic performance of “Jungle Love!” I had the soundtrack to this movie playing almost non-stop in my final college years! “Kick Some Ass” by Stroke 9, “This is Love” by PJ Harvey, “The Devil’s Song” by Marcy Playground – are you kidding me?!

There’s a moment late in the movie, when the great Mark Hamill appears as the Bluntman & Chronic villain Cock Knocker, and the on-screen title requests Applause. When I saw this in theaters, the audience went legitimately crazy at that point. True story! Everybody likes this movie! Get off your high horse, damn you!

Way to come through, internet!

Or does everyone really feel negatively about this film? Am I unfairly maligning all the Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back fans out there? Even more than the movie, I loved the deleted scenes and alternate takes on the DVD, with Will Ferrell’s bits about needing to acquire a jet my favorite. Sure, it’s a bunch of scatological goofery, but more jokes land than not, and if you like all the prior Kevin Smith movies, the incessant throwbacks are pretty fun!

But yeah, once he started making horror movies and whatever Yoga Hosers is, I checked out. I guess there’s only so long you can crank out these hyper-vulgar dick joke epics, huh? Good for Kevin Smith! Do what you wanna do! And hey, at least we have the Best George Carlin Hitchhiker performance of all-time to go back to. You know what? Movie MVP, George Carlin!

Loads of new Two-Timers, including a bunch of #246 Clerks, #231 American Pie, and weirdly #308 New Jack City co-stars, but it is Seann William Scott winning the day, becoming the tenth Five-Timer, after his roles in #348 Road Trip, #322 Role Models, American Pie, and #225 Old School. Stifler Spotlight!