MovieChat Forums > Kevin Smith Discussion > Talentless?

Talentless?

posted 3 years ago by VanZan (857)
19 replies | jump to latest

I've never been interested in anything he's done. I watched Clerks recently and it was good for a low budget film but I wouldn't be in a hurry to watch it again. Have seen that he did Dogma, Chasing Amy and Clerks 2 but haven't watched them. To be frank they all seem a bit weird. Also find his Jay and Silent Bob characters shit.

And it seems it was downhill for him after those films. Yet he keeps getting work and pops up to give a supposed expert opinion on geek culture.

But I find he's just not very good at his job. Nothing he's done has ever been a massive success. Can he just fuck off already?

[–] HelpMeRhonda (1157) 3 years ago

He's not a perfect writer or filmmaker. Who is? But many of his movies do tap into something many people can relate to. Right now, I'm thinking he has a way of conveying the sense of feeling lost. Many of his characters "don't know what they're gonna do".

Jay and Silent Bob - I enjoy them for the most part, and they only have big roles in Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. I'd check out Clerks 2 if you thought the first one was good for what it was. Chasing Amy is also a good romantic comedy, with a premise you don't normally see - guys falls in love with a lesbian. And if you like teen comedies, shoot check out Mallrats too.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

He clearly is talented. Dogma, Chasing Amy, and Zack and Miri Make a Porno are very good films.

[–] Nicko's Nose (1651) 3 years ago

I don’t think too many people would agree with you about Zack and Miri Make a Porno, but I do. Thought it was hilarious.

[–] Kowalski (63626) 3 years ago

I ALSO THROW MY LOT IN WITH THE ZACK

[–] TandyMan (10648) 3 years ago

I think he gets a lot of credit for the work of the talented actors hired to be in his movies.

[–] Kowalski (63626) 3 years ago

THEY ARE IN HIS MOVIES BECAUSE THEY CHOOSE TO BE...THAT SAYS SOMETHING RIGHT THERE.

[–] kirbyredd (60) 3 years ago

He was talented. But he was also very lazy.

He never progressed in the way most directors do given more experience and money and connections to hone their craft, because like he has admitted publicly, "close enough was good enough" for him.

But IMO, the number one reason for his downfall has been his obsession with weed.

That, and his new entourage of bootlickers like Bernardin, looking to ride his coattails.

[–] LukewarmCereal (88) 3 years ago

I think you're exactly right. He was good, and could have done great things, but instead just kept telling the same jokes with the same characters in the same places over and over.

I remember thinking that while watching Clerks 2. The whole film is about how these loser characters have achieved nothing with their lives, and are still working the same dead-end jobs in the same place they were in the '90s. And that's exactly what Kevin Smith was doing, too. It made me sad. Also, that film sucked compared to Clerks.

[–] Indiscipline (711) 3 years ago

He's doing Clerks 3 right now, so he's back with the loser crew again lol.

Clerks 2 was only half as good as the first, so I expect this one to be 1/4 as good.

[–] Kowalski (63626) 3 years ago

I GREW UP WITH CLERKS AS MY FAVORITE MOVIE...IT IS STILL TOP FIVE...I LOVE CLERKS 2...I CONSIDER IT A COMPANION PIECE AND WHILE IT GOES A BIT WILD HERE AND THERE...IT IS A VERY GOOD FOLLOW UP ON A SET OF CHARACTERS THAT RINGS TRUE AND HAS A LOT OF HEART...CLERKS III WILL BE THE BAROMETER TO MEASURE IF SMITH HAS ANYTHING LEFT IN THE TANK OR NOT FOR ME.

[–] HelpMeRhonda (1157) 3 years ago

True blue Kowalski.

In high school, Friday night was poker night and Clerks 2 was a go-to for background noise. And that's a compliment.

[–] TandyMan (10648) 3 years ago

Mostly talentless. I used to think he was just one-note. A young filmmaker who had a pretty good bead on the voice of his generation. Then didn't have much to say after. Pretty much still what I consider his problem to be. Smith has been thrust into a prominent position as spokesperson and defender of a sub-culture. But he's still got nothing to say. Which is why he falls so easily in line with progressive agenda. I think he's a literal tool for the industry. A puppet. I think Bruce Willis saw right through him.

[–] HelpMeRhonda (1157) 3 years ago

Did Bruce not treat him as a real director per se? I know they didn't see eye to eye but I don't know the details.

[–] filmschooldegree (350) 3 years ago

His career would have been a perfect negative slope if not for the sudden crash caused by the embarrassing atrocity that was Jersey Girl, a film so vile it made Nazi propaganda seem like Bambi. The slight recovery after that moldy failure was misleading in that it made it look like he wasn't an incompetent buffoon, except he was.

[–] Kowalski (63626) 3 years ago

JERSEY GIRL ISN'T A BAD FILM...IT FEATURES A LOVELY PERFORMANCE FROM THE LATE GREAT GEORGE CARLIN...LIV TYLER AND BEN AFFLECK ARE BOTH GOOD...A WONDERFUL WILL SMITH CAMEO...IT IS A SMALL FILM AND IT IS A DECENT ONE...IT'S TRUE FLAW IS SMITH HIRING J.LO FOR WHAT AMOUNTS TO 10 MINUTES OF SCREEN TIME...SHE IS FINE...BUT THE FALLOUT FROM THE GIGLI/BENNIFER SHIT BECAME A NUCLEAR STIGMA FOREVER ATTACHED TO THE FILM....ALSO SOME PEOPLE JUST HATE BEN AFFLECK...WHICH I DON'T GET...I HAVE LOVED THAT GUY SINCE HE WAS TRYING TO FUCK GIRLS IN A VERY UNCOMFORTABLE PLACE.

[–] ebhaynz (3612) 3 years ago

He's good at running his mouth non stop I did like some of Mallrats but it wasn't very memorable.

[–] bond998 (1206) 3 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Jacksman344 (120) 3 years ago

The guy wrote one of the best Daredevil Stories that wasn't written by Frank Miller. I think hes fine at what he dose. We get it, its trendy to hate Kevin Smith. Because a lot of people are Butthurt over a 80's Cartoon about a homoerotic hero.