Jersey Girl 2004

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Looks like a moviemaker stretching in the wrong direction. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: An enjoyable slice-of-life drama that offers a couple of hours spent in the company of people whose lives are recognizable from your own. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's saved by an unusually charming child actor: Castro, who has a voice like a pan flute and a sweetly low-key screen presence. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Big, gooey (but often likable) misfire. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: Kevin Smith would have made fun of a movie like this ten years ago! Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A treacly mess that recalls Robin Williams in his 'I need a hug' phase. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: This is a very good collection of episodes about the weekly compromises that parents make for their kids and the little dreams that children have for themselves. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Overall too bland to hold our interest. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The grating sense of commercial calculation in Jersey Girl consistently undercuts Smith's fine writing. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: This is [Smith's] first mature work in which he weds his gift for quirky dialogue and humor with genuine feeling and tries to craft a story with broad appeal. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: It's way too tame for Smith's hardcore fans -- they'll probably hate every minute of it -- and not solid enough to draw new admirers. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: A small movie with a big star doing some of his most appealing work. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: It's a goopy well, duh of a family drama. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: [Smith's] clerks would never have stocked it; his Amy would never have chased it; even Silent Bob might have found his voice to dump on Jersey Girl. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Despite all indications that he would make a fun drinking buddy, Ben Affleck, teen idol, Oscar-winning screenwriter, can't act his way out of a paper bag. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: Festooned with bits of stale child-rearing slapstick and mawkish sentimentality, Jersey Girl is the sort of movie well-meaning movie people make when they begin to feel guilty about the level of success they've attained. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Affleck may be a nice man, but he has a seemingly congenital inability to do anything convincingly, which is only made worse by Smith's apparent immunity to cloying sentiment. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: This modest little date-movie may feel like a refreshing relief. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Affleck is buried in the cliches of his role, or worse, having to react to the fatuousness of Tyler. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: A mess, but forced to carry the rest of this too-saccharine but sometimes amusing film based on the personal experiences of scruffy, offbeat director Kevin Smith, Mr. Affleck has his moments. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Kevin Smith has made a movie so false and blatantly icky that it's the film equivalent of making goo-goo noises and chucking a baby under the chin for 103 minutes. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: Sweet and conventional, with just enough wacky Kevin Smith moments to keep it going. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Maybe I would have been touched by this film if I had believed in the characters and their situations, but too much feels forced and scripted, the clear product of a writer's keyboard. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It's the kind of movie Hugh Grant might make, except for the way Smith has with his dialogue, which is truer and more direct than we expect. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Inspired by Smith's own awe and amazement at being a father, the movie is modest and entertaining, with a minimum of sentimental goo, and it demands little of us except a good-natured willingness to go with it. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Smith is trying to say something heartfelt, even as he's using formulas that are unworthy of him. Thus, Jersey Girl is a step, not a misstep. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Although the story is fiction, the emotions are real. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Watching Jersey Girl is akin to being smothered by a basket of warm puppies. Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: Smith is looking more and more like a developing major talent, so it could be years until we get a handle on this movie's legacy. Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: The script stoops to cheap gags that undercut Affleck's efforts to sustain a believable character. Read more

Ed Park, Village Voice: Has characters explain transparent motivations, to convince the gullible that the feelings here are real. Read more