I saw this movie on the TV schedules last week and my first reaction was "God no, that got terrible reviews". Then I thought I would give it a try, mainly because it was on the TV, and also because I don't always trust critics or box office results.
I thought it was actually quite a good movie. Not a masterpiece, but then it never pretends to be. There were some genuinely funny moments, the scenes involving the child were not allowed to be oversentimental, and there were a few scenes that were quite affecting.
The real surprise though was Ben Affleck. I must admit that although I liked him in "Armageddon" and "Shakespeare in love" ("you're not going to do it like THAT are you?!") I never really considered him a good actor. I thought he was very good in "Jersey Girl". He handled the grief scenes very well and was very convincing as a loving father whose daughter is the most important thing in the world to him.
I presume the reason that this movie did so badly at the time of its release was a reaction to the so called "Bennifer" phenomenon. I hate when audiences let their views on what is going on in an actor's real life affect what they think of that actor's work. Maybe actors like John Cusack and Kevin Spacey have the right idea in that they do not tell the media too much about their private lives.
The lesson I have learned from watching this movie is to go and see the movies that I think look or sound good even if they failed at the box office or were panned by critics. Go and see it and make up your own mind.
My vote: 7 out of 10
I thought it was actually quite a good movie. Not a masterpiece, but then it never pretends to be. There were some genuinely funny moments, the scenes involving the child were not allowed to be oversentimental, and there were a few scenes that were quite affecting.
The real surprise though was Ben Affleck. I must admit that although I liked him in "Armageddon" and "Shakespeare in love" ("you're not going to do it like THAT are you?!") I never really considered him a good actor. I thought he was very good in "Jersey Girl". He handled the grief scenes very well and was very convincing as a loving father whose daughter is the most important thing in the world to him.
I presume the reason that this movie did so badly at the time of its release was a reaction to the so called "Bennifer" phenomenon. I hate when audiences let their views on what is going on in an actor's real life affect what they think of that actor's work. Maybe actors like John Cusack and Kevin Spacey have the right idea in that they do not tell the media too much about their private lives.
The lesson I have learned from watching this movie is to go and see the movies that I think look or sound good even if they failed at the box office or were panned by critics. Go and see it and make up your own mind.
My vote: 7 out of 10