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 ith
the arrival of Jay and Silent Bob
Strike Back, the end of a legacy is at hand. "There will be
no more Jay and Silent Bob," said creator, writer and director Kevin
Smith. "There will be new characters like Roy and Silent
Bill."Two characters with a long history, the duo made their debut in Smith's first film, Clerks. A black and white film on a shoe-string budget ($28,000), Smith decided to write himself and his friend, Jason Mewes, into the script. Smith plays the low-key, Silent Bob who never utters a word, while Mewes is Jay, who is a high-keyed, perpetually stoned, foulmouthed drug dealer. "When I got bit by the movie bug, I just wrote (Jason) in because I wanted to see if anybody would think he's funny." The shot-in-the-dark became a hit, and Jay and Silent Bob became famous. No one was more surprised by the film's success than Mewes. "Everyone in my little town of hounds started to call me a movie star. I was shocked. I was psyched. It was just weird." Mewes admits that without his friend's help, "I'd be roofing still. Even after Clerks I was roofing." |
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Smith has come a long way since then. From his meagre beginnings and dreams of owning a deli, to becoming the head of View Askew Productions, owning a successful comic book store, penning comic books himself and writing, directing and producing films. "I had an idea in my head to make one movie, which was Clerks, and it just led to the next movie, and that led to the next movie." The next movie was Mallrats, followed by Chasing Amy and Dogma. In each of these films the dynamic duo had minor yet important roles to play. With their final bow on the silver screen, it is fitting to find them the stars of the show. The plot finds the comic book characters based on Jay and Silent Bob's lives, Bluntman and Chronic, are to be made into a feature film. Jay and Bob soon discover that they will receive no royalties and decide to take a road trip to Hollywood from their home in New Jersey to sabotage the film. On the road they meet a variety of outrageous characters including four gorgeous diamond thieves and an orangutan. "Expect no morals or lessons this time around folks; we're in funny country now. The movie mocks the industry," Smith says. "But we also take shots at ourselves." The $20 million film marks the largest budget Smith has ever had. "It looks phenomenal, as opposed to the other crap we've made." Joining the two are a host of Hollywood starlets and past leads from Smith's four films, including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jason Biggs, Shannon Elizabeth, Jason Lee, Will Ferrell, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Ali Larter, Chris Rock, Alanis Morissette, James Van Der Beek, Wes Craven and even Smith's infant daughter, Harley Quinn Smith (named after the cartoon character in the animated Batman series). As for closing the final chapter to the world of Jay and Silent Bob, Smith won't be losing any sleep over it. "Yep - God, it's about time. Remember when people liked Pauly Shore? The Weasel? I don't want them to become The Weasel." - Jane Sanderson |