Jersey Girl (2004)

After his career is sidelined by an unexpected tragedy and a personal blow-up, a single man must take care of his precocious daughter.

Director:

Kevin Smith

Writer:

Kevin Smith

Stars:

Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Raquel Castro

2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Betty Aberlin	...	Teacher
Matt McFarland	...	Boy #1
Sarah Stafford	...	Girl #1
Paulie Litt	...	Bryan (as Paulie Litowsky)
Christian Fan	...	Boy #3
Victor Chavez	...	Boy #4
William Mace	...	Boy #5
Raquel Castro	...	Gertie Trinke
Ben Affleck	...	Ollie Trinke
Jennifer Schwalbach Smith	...	Susan (as Jennifer Schwalbach)
Jennifer Lopez	...	Gertrude Steiney
George Carlin	...	Bart Trinke
Stephen Root	...	Greenie
Mike Starr	...	Block
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Doctor #1

Storyline

Oliver Trinke has always tried to put his Highlands, New Jersey past behind him, but it has been a difficult task for the past six years. Ollie was a successful New York City music publicist. He and his wife Gertrude had a daughter, immediately after which Gertrude died leading to Ollie naming their daughter Gertie. Unprepared to be a father let alone a single father, Ollie, through a single incident largely putting his desire for professional success over his responsibilities as a father, became persona non grata in the entertainment publicity industry, resulting in Ollie and Gertie needing to move back to Highlands, moving in with his father, Bart Trinke, until he got back onto his feet. But unexpectedly for Ollie, getting back on his feet in an immediate sense meant getting a job working side-by-side with Bart in the Borough of Highlands works crew, a job he still has. Ollie still has the desire both to get back to a New York City life and a high powered job as an entertainment ...

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Plot Keywords:

hare krishna | labia | karma | blue bra | sex | 

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Taglines:

He wanted it all...but he got more than he bargained for.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 on appeal for language and sexual content including frank dialogue

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 March 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fatherhood Project

Filming Locations:

New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,319,171, 28 March 2004, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$25,266,129, 27 June 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax,View Askew Productions,Beverly Detroit

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The emergency room that Ollie and Gertie went to deliver the baby is the emergency room of the now closed Mercy Community Hospital in Havertown, Pennsylvania, which, by the way, never had that many staff members working in it when it was open. It also never had a maternity department. It's obvious that it is not in the New York City area, by the fact that it has only six beds, four curtains and two rooms.

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Goofs

When it is time for Gertie to perform at the show, the teacher comes out from behind the curtain twice.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Teacher: Everyone, please take your seats. You heard the bell. You know what it means. Last week, the assignment was to write an essay about your family. Who they...
Teacher: [class: "Are!"] And what they...
Teacher: [class: "Mean to us!"] Excellent droning.

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Crazy Credits

Jay says "Nooch." during the View Askew logo that plays at the end of the credits.

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Alternate Versions

Kevin Smith has a three-hour "director's cut" version that has screened in Los Angeles and in New Jersey at his Vulgarthon all-day film events. Smith says he will release the longer version on DVD for the film's eventual tenth anniversary.

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Connections

References Pulp Fiction (1994)

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Soundtracks

Everyone's A Kid At Christmas
Written by Aurora Miller and Ronald Miller
Performed by Stevie Wonder
Courtesy of Motown under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

I left this on the shelf far too long

So after reading many a disconsolate review from Kevin Smith fans I decided to purchase the DVD anyway. Yet all the negative comments had left their toll on me and the DVD stayed on the shelf in its shrink wrapper for FAR TOO LONG. You motor heads! Yes this movie is sweet and yes it's sometimes even sickly but it's endearing and moving. Ben Athleck switches in and out of competence a few too many times to make his performance IMO a completely solid one but frankly he does a good job of holding all the disparate threads of the movie together.

If you want to live in 1994 dick & fart jokes then simply put Clerks in the DVD player and play it again! However each of Kevin's films go someway in their own right into the exploration of inter-personal relationships and the impact of consequence in our daily lives. Jersey Girl is no different in this respect than Clerks.