Jersey Girl (2004)

Directed by Kevin Smith. Starring Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, George Carlin, Raquel Castro, Jason Biggs, Jennifer Lopez, Stephen Root, Mike Starr, Will Smith. [PG-13]

Following a decade of crude, foul-mouthed, but mostly likable indie comedies, writer/director Smith goes all gooey with this formulaic slice of sentimentality. After his wife dies in childbirth and he loses his job, single father Affleck moves back home with his pops (Carlin) to raise an über-precocious child (Castro) and “slum it” as a civil servant. He also meets a pretty grad student/video store clerk (Tyler) who…well, the rest can be filled in by anyone off the street. Predictable and hokey (there’s even a slow-clap scene), with enough bathos to embarrass a sitcom, but there are a few mildly agreeable moments—multiple digs against “Cats,” for instance. Affleck is uneven but occasionally persuasive, Tyler manages to wring sweetness out of her oversincerity, Carlin is a crusty codger in the long tradition of clichéd crusty codgers (but still gets a couple laughs). The soundtrack selections are sometimes painfully on-the-nose, but that almost seems to be the point. Jason Lee and Matt Damon make cameo appearances.

36/100