Evening With Kevin Smith 1 & 2 Review

Evening with Kevin Smith & Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder
(2002, 2006)
Like everyone else I first discovered Kevin Smith with Clerks, which I thought was hysterical, and have had a problematic relationship with his work ever since; I loved Mallrats, which he still apologizes for and which his fans tend to dump on, and I loathe Chasing Amy, which many people consider to be his best film (no, thats Dogma). After Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back I gave up on him because, well, that movie frankly sucked, but Clerks II brought me around again. I remained a non-fan, pretty much, until a few months ago, when I saw an utterly hilarious clip on YouTube where he talked about his involvement with the aborted Superman film from several years ago. On the basis of that I decided to give these discs a try; maybe Smith in a Q&A session would prove to be funnier than his films. A warning; the language is crude, crude, crude, but then if youve seen any of his films thats not a surprise. Theres also a lot of sex talk and gay talk, so if any of that offends you, stay away (but then, if any of that offends you, you more than likely wouldnt have an interest in Kevin Smiths work in the first place). The first disc takes excerpts from several college talks Smith gave (mostly extended Q&A sessions), and the second covers a night in Toronto and a night in London. Smiths sense of humor pervades even the DVD menu; on the first set, he comes out, sits down, and starts to read a paper, apparently waiting for you to make a choice. After a minute or so of glancing up at you while perusing the paper he begins to get angry and gestures to the Play Movie icon while giving you a dirty look. If you take too long, he grows disgusted and wanders offscreen. The Q&As are no-holds barred, and he discusses various topics from his first sexual encounter with his wife to her posing in Playboy to how it messes with his daughters head that he is present both in movies and in real life. Personally I found Smith at his best when discussing how screwed up show business is. The abovementioned Superman story is hilarious, and a long monologue about an aborted documentary he was to make centering around Prince is amazingly funny. Smith is a natural storyteller and knows how to unspool a narrative (which sometimes you wouldnt guess from his films); one rant about the Lord of the Rings movies makes it largely uncut into Clerks II (it was my favorite part of the film). Regardless of subject matter, hes consistently funny throughout these discs, which run about four hours each (two hours per disc, more or less). Sometimes he brings out his partner-in-crime Jason Mewes (Jay to Smiths Silent Bob) onstage, but for all that Mewes is a big mouth in the films, hes surprisingly shy up on stage, which is fine, because Smith is very obviously very comfortable and wholly in his element. Besides being hysterically funny and quick on his feet with snappy comebacks to his sometimes raucous audience, what emerges from these discs is that Smith is a man very comfortable with being who he is, an accomplishment not many of us have managed. He explains to one fan that he understands his role in Hollywood and his
success, which is that he makes inexpensive movies that generally turn a profit, and so long as he can continue to do that he will always have work. He demonstrates an understanding of how fake and phony the business is, yet obviously possesses an awareness of how to survive in it. Despite all the fart and dick jokes, as he puts it, and yes, theres a great deal of crudeness here, that is not only Smiths stock and trade, but its his comfort zone, its who he is (a story about his little girl saying shit for two hours is hilarious and somehow sweet), there nonetheless emerges from watching these discs a portrait of man who has done very well with his life and is deeply satisfied and happy with the choices he has made; he knows and understands exactly who he is and has managed to carve out a place in the world where not only is that ok, but people actually pay him money just to be who he is. Nice gig indeed. If all this makes me sound like a convert, so be it. I still feel hes had a seesaw career as a writer/director, and these eight hours (and another disc on the way, though I wont review that as I expect it will be largely the same as these four) did nothing to alter that view; but it did give me some terrific insight into a highly intelligent and deeply funny man, and I laughed my ass off for almost eight hours, which, on the whole, very few people are capable of making me do. If you do decide to watch these discs (and hey, Smith isnt for everyone), make sure anyone who doesnt appreciate foul language isnt just out of the room, make sure theyre out of the county. Raunchy doesnt equal funny, but you can be funny with it, and probably no one has a more masterful grasp of the potty-mouth than Smith, nor is able to wield it to such hilarious effect. November 6, 2010

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Evening with Kevin Smith & Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder

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