In the universe of Kevin Smith, the view is sometimes a bit askew. It is a place complete with running gags, inside jokes, interwoven characters and storylines, alter egos, and ridiculous humor mixed with ample Star Wars, John Hughes, comic book, and hockey references. Kevin Patrick Smith aka Silent Bob, aka Lunchbox, aka Bluntman, was born on August 2, 1970 in Red Banks, New Jersey, a fact that has been quite apparent over the span of his movies. “A large part of Kevin Smith's career as a filmmaker has been spent telling stories about New Jersey, not to be mistaken for “just making the same movie over and over again.”” (Harrison, 2011) Smith has worn many hats over the last twenty-two years in the entertainment industry, including that of filmmaker, actor, screenwriter, comic book writer, and comedian. He is best known for his earlier films; specifically, the six film New Jersey trilogy, released between 1994 and 2008 (not including Jersey Girl): Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Clerks II. These are the films were produced by Smith company – View Askew Productions and are considered to exist in the realm of the ‘Askewverse’ because their storylines and characters often overlap and connected in some way. They also share a common cast of actors, including Smith himself.
Shot in black and white, his first film, Clerks (1994), was set in the New Jersey convenient store where Smith himself was working at the time. Since the store was still open during the day, they were only able to film in the evenings. Smith financed the project by putting his comic book collection up for collateral, in addition to maxing out his credit cards. The storyline of Clerks follows the day of two twenty-somethings, slacker clerks, Dante Hicks, who works in the convenient store and was called into work on his day off and Randal Graves, who works next door at the video store. Their somewhat ridiculous day includes, among other things, multiple visits from a couple of loitering drug dealers, Jay and Silent Bob; played by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith. Silent Bob is a distinctive character, with his signature beard, backwards hat, trench coat, and stoic silence. Along with his chatty, sometimes high-strung and obnoxious sidekick, Jay, these two are reoccurring characters who appear in all six of these films; often as critical characters who provide comic relief, and ultimately save the day. Brian O’Halloran is someone else who appears in all six films. He plays either Dante Hicks, the clerk in the NJ convenience store from Clerks, who also appears in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Clerks II, or one of his ‘cousins’; as is the case in Mallrats where he plays Gil Hicks, Chasing Amy where he is Jim Hicks, and Grant Hicks in Dogma.
Smith’s second film, Mallrats (1995), with a budget of 6.1 million dollars, is chronologically first in the Askewverse, as it is set the day before Clerks takes place. This movie follows the adventures of friends Brody (Leigh) and T.S. as they spend the day at the mall in an attempt to distract themselves from their recent break-ups with their respective girlfriends. This was the first time that Smith worked with his friends Ben Affleck, and Jason Leigh, and his former girlfriend, Joey Lauren Adams. All three were relatively unknown as actors at the time. Leigh was a professional skater prior to this film. Of course, Jay and Silent Bob have a strong presence in this movie. They are able to take the heat off of Brody and TJ and thanks to a grandiose plan which involves Silent Bob in a pseudo Batman costume and flying from the rafters. An interesting side note about Mallrats is that it was the only film in which Smith did not do his own editing.
Chasing Amy (1997) had a budget of a quarter of a million dollars and was, in part, inspired by his relationship with Adams, who starred as “Amy” in this film. It won two independent spirit awards; Best Supporting Role (Jason Lee) and Best Screenplay. It is in this film that audiences are introduced to Bluntman and Chronic, the comic book characters based on Jay and Silent Bob. While trademark Smith humor is present throughout this film, it is more serious or dramatic in nature than his first two films were.
Smith’s fourth film, Dogma, had a budget of ten million dollars and was released on November, 12 1999. This film tells the tale of the last living descendent of Christ, who happens to work at an abortion clinic, and her quest to stop two fallen angels, Loki (Damon) and Bartleby (Affleck) from entering a New Jersey church on a specific day to take advantage a loophole in Catholic dogma and thus proving God as wrong and negating life on Earth. The film was considered to be controversial or offensive to some because of its religious subject matter. Shortly after the release of this movie, Smith heard about a group protest of his film at a theater near him, and went to join those picketing. Ultimately it was a small crowd and Smith was recognized by a news crew. (TV Ropes, n.d.) In comparison to the three prior movies, Dogma had an expansive cast, including Selma Hayek, Chris Rock, Alan Rickman, George Carlin, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, and Alanis Morrisette, in addition to the ‘regulars’ of Jason Mewes, Jason Leigh, Ben Affleck.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) was the most expensive of the View Askew films at twenty-two million dollars. It was the first Smith movie to feature Jay and Silent Bob as main characters. Upon learning about a “Bluntman and Chronic” movie, the dynamic duo set out to claim their portion of the royalties, only to discover that they won’t be getting any. Their objective changes and they are determined to disrupt and stop the film in any way they can. As can be expected in a View Askewverse film, it is sprinkled with Smith’s friends. This film also includes his wife Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, who plays a lesbian jewel thief, and his daughter, Harley Quinn Smith, who plays a young Silent Bob.
Clerks II, released in 2006, was the last of the New Jersey Trilogy. Written by Smith in 2005, filming was delayed because Smith starred in Catch and Release, written and directed by Susannah Grant. Grant requested that Smith try out for the role of Sam and he was confirmed for the part only five minutes after completing his audition. Clerks II revisits Dante and Randall in their thirties, examining their life choices while both working at Mooby’s; another reoccurring phenomenon in the Askewverse, first appearing in Dogma as the target of renegade angels Loki and Bartleby.
The most recent feature comedy to be written by Smith, Zach and Miri Make a Porno (2008), had positive reviews and is his highest grossing movie to date, it did not do as well as expected at the Box Office. While his roots lie in comedy and film, Smith works in other mediums as well, including television, as seen on his AMC show Comic Book Men and is very active with podcasts as well. While Kevin Smith is most commonly seen as quiet onscreen, his many contributions through film, television, comic books, podcasts, and various other mediums indicate that he does indeed have something to say!
Works Cited
Harrison, M. (2011, September 28). Den of Geek. Retrieved from http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/18105/running-gags-and-inside-jokes-in-kevin-smiths-view-askewniverse
IMDb. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003620/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
TV Ropes. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Dogma
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