Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Jersey Girl’

Written by Scott Edwards 

​With the current Kevin Smith retrospective that we have been doing, please allow me a couple minutes to review Jersey Girl. Although this movie was overshadowed by Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s sparkling relationship, it can go down as one of the movies that is a must see for a single parent. Even though this does not keep with the dick and fart jokes that Jay and Silent Bob support in several of his movies, this movie has captured my heart.  

Ollie Trinke is one of most powerful publicists in New York and has fallen in love with the woman of his dreams. But when his new wife dies after delivering their daughter, Ollie is not willing to let his loss get in the way of his job and tries to perform his duties as normal. When Ollie’s father decides not to take care of young Gertie for a day, the pressure finally falls on to Ollie and he lashes out at a press conference to support his client’s breakthrough into movies.

After losing his job, Ollie is sent back to Jersey to live with his father. Not being able to find a new job doing what he was doing previously, Ollie works for the city with the help of his father. Ollie still continues to fight to get back to his old life and neglects his daughter while doing so as his father takes over all of the responsibilities of a father once again. Ollie is forced to become a father and with the help of his own dad, he does everything he can to make sure she is happy and taken care of.

Meeting a college student working in their local video store, Ollie finds that there may be something more to life than just his pursuit of getting back to his old life. When Maya offers to help Ollie get over his loss, Ollie comes to terms with the changes he has gone though in life and might be willing to change his focus in as well. But one day, Ollie is forced to talk to the town about closing down a street for a few days, he finds that he still has the knack for his prior career and wants once again to get back into it, but his family and new friends do not agree with this move and fight to keep things the way they are.

Jersey Girl is a coming of age move that has plenty of real-life jokes added in that seem to be underrated in a Kevin Smith movie. With a great cast attached and cameos from some of his faithful and a surprise one at the end that will blow your mind, it is a touching film. Single parents seem to have a hard time making things work, but if their family has their backs, there is nothing they are not able to accomplish. There are plenty of take-a-ways from this movie, but two of them that I will keep with me for all time are that Cats is an awful play and that Sweeney Todd proves that there is more to life than just death.  

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