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:

Forget about who you thought you were, and just accept who you are.

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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:

Untitled Kevin Smith 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

Ollie and Gertie refer to the street sweeper as the Batmobile. Ben Affleck was later cast as Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Suicide Squad (2016). Also, a video cassette of Batman Forever (1995) can be spotted in the video store that Ollie and Maya are in during one scene.

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Goofs

Ollie rips the buttons off his blue shirt as he gets into the costume for the Sweeney Todd skit. After the skit, the buttons are sewn back on and now he isn't wearing the white t-shirt underneath.

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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 Queen Margot (1994)

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Soundtracks

Landslide
Written by Stevie Nicks (as Stephanie Nicks)
Performed by Fleetwood Mac
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing

User Reviews

Smith breaks ground with Jersey Girl, but not without growing pains.

First off, let me say that Jersey Girl is a great film. Kevin Smith has done a great job of blending the romantic comedy genre with his trademark humor to create a fresh and original movie. This is an obvious sign that Smith is maturing both as a director and a person, and should be great news for those fans who enjoy his movies for more than the fart jokes. The crowd at the theater tonight might have been the oddest mix of people I have ever seen at an opening night. Stoners looking for more silent bob, teen girls giggling over Ben, young couples on dates, and older people looking for something lighthearted and fun. The stoners were the most disappointed, as the closest thing they got to Silent Bob was the new View Askew graphic at the begining of the movie.

This was definately Ben Afflecks best performance to date. He was amazingly good as Ollie. He gave the character a ton of depth, and Smith should be commended for this choice. The rest of the cast is also excellent. In fact, they are the best part of the movie.

My complaints are few, but I do have a couple. Firstly, the movie takes so long to setup, and it has a few spots throughout that tend to drag. Liv Tylers character is also a problem. Although she does a great job with what she is given, her character lacks depth and is thusly difficult to connect with as the new love interest.

All in all, this is charming and light hearted enough to take a date to, but has enough depth to keep it from being a cookie cutter affair. 8/10