Who The F*#k is Kevin Smith?

Sean Keenan's critical analysis on the failures and enduring successes of the famed indie film maker.

How do you define success? Kevin Patrick Smith's most successful film at the box office was the critically panned, run-of-the-mill, forgettable 2010 feature Cop Out which made $55 million globally and the most successful film he wrote was Zac And Miri Make A Porno, released to mixed reviews in 2008 and which raked in 42 million. After ...Make A Porno finished it's cinematic run, Smith had this to say: That was supposed to be the one that punched us through to the next level. Everyone thought it would do $60 to $70 million, and it wound up doing Kevin Smith business." Put simply, Smith has never had a commercial breakthrough in the way Quentin Tarantino or Spike Lee has had. He's remained, whether he likes it or not, firmly in the realm of cult director. Interestingly, looking back on his uneven filmography, it's not difficult to see why.

When the 24 year old first burst onto the scene, grunge music and alternative movies/music was all the rage. Clerks had been filmed on a minuscule budget of $27,500 and had racked in several million at the box office. It even had the honour of being played out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where Smith was awarded 'Award Of The Youth'.  He had been given the green light to commence his next feature film and was given a much bigger budget. $6 million. Not bad for someone who was virtually broke just a year earlier. Life looked very rosy for Kevin Smith indeed.  Quentin Tarantino followed his incredible debut Reservoir Dogs with the cinematic landmark Pulp Fiction - Smith followed with Mallrats. Mallrats...sheesh.

I don't care how much you or your mates might have liked it, the movie plain and simple was garbage. I knew it would be bad when Smith himself, playing the role of Silent Bob slipped over on roller skates and went hurtling into something. When Jason Lee wipes his hand up is arse and then wipes his hands all over some food, which the films antagonist Michael Rooker then devours, one can definatley say this isn't in the same league as the Bruce Willis/Ving Rhames stand off in Pulp Fiction. Ok sure, to the undemanding lover of 90's slacker films this quenches the comedy thirst, but to the cinema-lover, this film put Kevin Smith in his place. One does not hear of Mallrats making any greatest movie lists. The film bombed at the box office, making only around a third of it's budget, but, and never underestimate the lowest common denominator, Mallrats has developed a strong cult following. 

Chasing Amy seems like it came from a Kevin Smith in an alternate universe. The puerile humour, whilst still present, actually helps to make a realistic portrait of what love and dating means in the 90's. The film refuses to take easy options, allows us to invest time in the characters and leaves us wishing this was his true second feature. If you haven't seen it yet, please do - it is arguably Smith's best film.

Nineteen nighty nine saw the release of Dogma and was the first Smith film I saw. Dogma incorporates Smith's potty-mouth humour with the Christian impending apocalypse. With a slew of A-list actors, it's very entertaining, if not exactly brilliant.

Jay and Silent Bob, who have had cameos in all of the previous mentioned films, get their own feature in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (Kev loves his Star Wars references), which is definitely not high art. Jersey Girl which followed in 2004, was Smith's first stab at straight drama, and became his most panned movie to date. Two years later he made the sequel to Clerks, again shown at Cannes (and got a standing ovation during the credits) but must have been disappointed it could only make $26m worldwide.

Notice a trend here? It's obvious Smith's talent does not truly lay within the art of movie making. His true (so-called) talent is within his humour. And that is, to say the least, hit or miss. In Clerks 2, it's nice to catch up with the original cast, but that's all the novelty value this film has. Anyone who enjoys the 'raping donkey' joke at the end, didn't come to the movies expecting to have their mind's ideas challenged. One could argue this was never Smith's intentions however, and it would be a valid point.

Zac and Miri followed and was formulaic but entertaining. At a time when Judd Apatow films are doing so well, notorious for their gross out humour, it's surprising then that Smith could not jump on his coat tails considering he pioneered this type of comedy a decade earlier.

Cop Out was the first film Smith directed but didn't write and after this he released the extremely hit or miss Red State in 2011, his first venture into the horror genre.

Love him or hate him, Kevin Smith is a guy you cannot ignore. For all of his faults, (and there's a few) he remains one of my most looked up directors. We can't all have the career Tarantino's had. Success after success. It's impossible. There's greatness and then theres shades below it to mediocrity. Smith falls somewhere in between. He shows us it's ok to fail. He's had an up and down career, sometimes the up's coincide with the downs. That point is proved by the fact he made the awful Mallrats smack in the middle of the movie run that established himself as a director (1994 to 1999, Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma). Crucially however, Smith has a knack for writing funny scripts and knows how to execute a funny set piece. His films are unique. I love visiting his view askew-niverse. His do-it-yourself attitude coupled with his healthy disregard for authority, makes him a personal hero of mine. Throw in his podcasts, his love of comic books and his constant references to ice hockey and you have one hell of a character.

Kevin Smith, I salute you.