JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK (2001) (***)

This is a film for fans of director Kevin Smith. Taking the lowbrow MALLRATS approach, Smith crafts one big in-joke for film geeks. He spoofs his own movies as well as Hollywood in general. It's part road movie, part stoner flick, part action movie, and all comedy. How much you laugh really depends on you.

The film follows the adventures of Smith's dimwitted team of Jay and Silent Bob, played by Jason Mewes and Smith, respectively. Jason Lee's Banky Edwards from Smith's CHASING AMY shows up to tell the hetero life partners that the comic book he created based on them is being turned into a movie. So the twosome race across the country in an attempt to stop Miramax from making the film based on their comic book alter egos, Bluntman and Chronic. Their trip is a meandering one where they partner with four hot female animal rights activists into a monkey-kidnapping attempt. Justice (Shannon Elizabeth, AMERICAN PIE) has a soft spot for the duo, but her partners Sissy (Eliza Dushku, BRING IT ON), Chrissy (Ali Larter, LEGALLY BLONDE), and Missy (Jennifer Schwalbach aka Mrs. Kevin Smith) just want to play Jay and Bob for bigger idiots than they are.

Set in Smith filmic world, characters from his other films make appearances. Paradoxically, Lee's Banky and Brodie Bruce both show up. Ben Affleck has played several characters in Smith's films, but here he also plays himself. He and Matt Damon do a spoof sequence of GOOD WILL HUNTING that is simply hilarious. The film contains some of the funniest movie spoof moments I've ever seen. It's one of those films that you can watch six or seven times and laugh at something new each time. Major warning is given to folks who haven't seen any of Kevin Smith's other films (CLERKS, MALLRATS, CHASING AMY and DOGMA), JAY & SILENT BOB will not be half as funny if you haven't seen his other stuff.

Some might call the film juvenile or self-indulgent, but Smith seems to be making this film for his fans. As a reward he brings back some of their favorite characters like the heroes of CLERKS, and adds in pop culture celeb cameos, including SNL's Will Ferrell, Judd Nelson, George Carlin, Carrie Fisher, Seann William Scott (AMERICAN PIE), Jon Stewart, Jules Asner, Steve Kmetko, Gus Van Sant, Chris Rock, Jamie Kennedy, Wes Craven, Shannen Doherty, Mark Hamill, Jason Biggs and James Van Der Beek. Some play themselves and some play unexpected characters. It's like Smith's version of SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT. While Smith's fans will get more out of it then others, anyone can find enough silly laughs in the pop soup that it's worth a taste.