Friday, March 1, 2002 | 9:07 a.m.
I have a message for Paul Thomas Anderson, the intense young auteur who created "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia": Be afraid, monkey boy.
While you've been pondering the ins and outs of your navel, Kevin Smith of Red Bank, N.J., has been building an army. Even I didn't see this coming. Who could have guessed that the geeky genius behind "Clerks" would get this far?
Smith has all but built an actor's repertoire of up-and-comers (Jason Lee, Joey Lauren Adams), respected veterans (Alan Rickman, Alec Baldwin), red-hot comics (Chris Rock, Will Farrell), bombshells (Shannon Elizabeth, Salma Hayek), and a true movie star or two (Ben Affleck, Matt Damon).
One only needs to watch the DVD of "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" (Dimension Home Video, $29.99) to discover how Smith got his legions. What he does isn't highbrow -- even his most ambitious film, "Dogma," had fart jokes -- but it does bear the distinction of being unique, almost unprecedented. In the course of five films, Smith has never compromised his vision, never belittled his actors or crew, and all of his films have respect for their audience.
Not many directors can say that of their work. Even the almighty Cameron Crowe, for all his bluster about becoming the next Billy Wilder, hasn't walked as fine a line. One more "Vanilla Sky" for Crowe, and Smith will run over his back, too.
Which isn't to say that "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" is a great film. It's dumb, woozy and too dependent on Smith's other films -- but it was also the funniest film of 2001, hands down. The tale of two stoners bound for Hollywood to stop a film of their lives from being made (why didn't Richard Linklater think of this?), "J&SB" is a fantasia of sex jokes, physical gags and high-powered celebrity cameos, the likes of which hasn't been seen since "Airplane."
Having said that, I wish I could tell you to run right out and rent it, but without having seen Smith's other films ("Mallrats" and "Chasing Amy" complete the set), many of its best jokes may pass you by. At the least, rent "Chasing Amy" beforehand; it's a great introduction to Smith's work, and sets up "J&SB" directly.
Of course, you could bypass all those and just rent the DVD for the outtakes. Many of the scene outtakes on the DVD are as funny as what went into the film. Improvised scenes by Will Farrell and Judd Nelson, played here in their entirety, are worth the cost of the disc all by themselves. Farrell, in particular, is hilarious as he bemoans a local police department's lack of a jet:
"You know, for the price of a helicopter you could have three jets. Maybe four, if you buy them in Malaysia."
"Doesn't anybody have a jet anymore? Even I had a jet, until my divorce from my wife Katharine. Of course, I didn't know how to fly the jet, but she ..."
Smith compliments every single actor and crew member in his gleefully profane director's commentary (it's dirtier than the movie -- no mean feat), and the cast and crew return the love: It seems no one has a single bad word to say about Smith. Even Paul Thomas Anderson, whose fans sent Smith hate mail after he said a few cross words about "Magnolia," reportedly likes the big lug. Onward to victory, Mr. Smith.
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