Kevin Smith: Sleazy, Bawdy, And Totally Overrated

Snow-Balling The Audience


Kevin Smith, as a director and writer, is overrated. There is not a single consistent aspect of Smith's film career which has displayed an ability of his which is unique or special to him. His choice of angles are bland, his use of mis-en-scene is at best cobbled together, and his writing, despite being immensely enjoyable at its peak ('Clerks', parts of 'Chasing Amy'), does not have any value outside of raunchy one-liners. His attempts at thematic complexity are shameful, his attempts at maturity are hackneyed and forced, and his general lack of a characteristic as director is present in every single film of his. Any person reading this note can direct a film better than Kevin Smith can. If you think differently, then you are crediting and, consequently, not giving enough credit to, all the wrong people.



Meaty Criticisms


- He turned his back on his artistic success. 'Clerk's served Smith with fame and film deals; in response, he abandoned every nuance of his debut - including the murky black and white which made it a much more authentic experience - with his second film. How and why he did this might not be known, if it weren't for the fact that he publically implied that he would actually sell out if given the opportunity. As Ebert pointed out so brazenly, Smith actually meant it. And so it went, Kevin Smith started to use color for his films.

- Kevin Smith and color (more particularly, fully-saturated color) mix like babies and crushed cyanide tablets. He has no idea what to do with it. Kevin Smith has about as artless a sense of color scheme as anyone you are likely to meet. His use of color in 'Clerks II', for instance, is overt and ugly. The main sin of his decision to embrace the machinery of Hollywood is that his greatest successes came on more organic terms. Even though 'Chasing Amy' was a faux-Freudian jumble, at least it stylistically fit Smith (and remains his second best effort after his classic debut) and at least had an inclination towards the smaller and lean. The high budgets afforded to him on every subsequent release only served to highlight how much more he did with less.

- Kevin Smith may have to do more talking-head features, or even recordings of public appearances. His dynamic in front of the camera has become miles more ingratiating and compelling than the muck he is putting in front of it. I would rather watch an 'Evening With Kevin Smith' over 'Jersey Girl' any day. Kevin Smith's wit cannot be denied; however, his lack of wherewithal to properly showcase it to its greatest effect on the big-screen has been proven time and again. I'm not one for suggesting jobs to people higher on the food-chain than I am, but what Jonathan Demme could do for Spalding Grey, someone could do for Kevin Smith. Just saying.

- 'Mall Rats', 'Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back', 'Clerks II', 'Jersey Girl', and 'Dogma'. This is more than half of Smith's entire filmography, and it all adds up to about 30 minutes of good cinema (with almost all of that coming from 'Dogma'). Kevin Smith's films, for whatever the reason they may be, have become distinctly 'blah'. Seemingly, no matter how high concept the film or sharp as the script may be, his failure is almost guaranteed, with very few exceptions (I have not seen 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno', so I reserve judgment - hell, I'll even count it in his benefit). He is the anti-Tarantino.



Porch Monkey Without A Home


In my opinion, Kevin Smith is the white version of Spike Lee; his reputation precedes him, and to any viewer who approaches him from a disadvantaged angle, it may become very confusing to note what marks his brand of filmmaking as unique. Outside of 'Clerks', no film of his can escape close scrutiny, and indeed his success has seemed to catch him at a disadvantage; studio treatment only serves to amplify just how little of an established aesthetic he has developed as a director. For Kevin Smith, airline hassles and all, it seems almost irrefutable that bigger doesnot mean better. If only he could be ejected from studios for making the same mistake on a artistic level, we might see improvement.


As is, Smith's latest (a studio-funded cop-com very inventively called 'Cop Out') is currently in the process of sinking in a critical ocean filled with derisive waters. It may just be time to begin approaching every Kevin Smith project with antipathy, since maybe then we can approach his films from the same viewpoint that he has apparently begun to. It might just be that he's grown lazy, and doesn't give a shit (akin to George Carlin's view of a God). It may very well be, in Smith's cinematic world, there is no more sun, and perhaps no more joy. If that is so, it is a world I would feel much better seeing less of.