Kevin Smith

   

This page is about the American film maker; for the New Zealand actor see Kevin Smith (actor).

Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film director and comic book writer.

His movies are known for their distinctive vision and dialogue, but are sometimes criticized for crude humor, limited attention to plot development, and technical amateurishness. Smith's films are often set in his home state of New Jersey and stuffed with pop culture references, particularly to comic books and the Star Wars movies. All of his movies, except his most recent, 2004's Jersey Girl, take place in the "View Askew Universe" and feature appearances from small time dope-dealers Jay and Silent Bob, the latter of which is played by Smith himself.

Bio and Film Career

Smith was born and raised in Highlands, New Jersey and the cultural atmosphere of New Jersey has heavily influenced his films. As a young adult, Smith attended the New School for Social Research's creative writing program but dropped out. He then enrolled in the Vancouver Film School, but left that school as well.

Afterwards, Smith took a job as a convenience store clerk, which inspired the script to his first film Clerks. Gathering together a mere $27,000 from parents, loans and the sale of Smith's comic book collection, Smith and a friend from the Vancouver Film School Scott Mosier began production on the black-and-white film about two 20-something slackers, using friends and local actors and filming at night in the convenience store Smith worked at during the day.

Clerks debuted and was a huge hit at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival. After Smith won a court battle with the Motion Picture Association of America to get the film's rating lowered from NC17 to R (the NC17 rating, which would have allowed no one younger than 17 to see the film, was given by the MPAA almost solely due to crude dialogue), it became a success on the growing independent film circuit, and was eventually shown during non-concert hours at Woodstock 1994.

In 1995, Smith released his first mainstream film Mallrats, chronicling the romantic difficulties of two slackers (Jason Lee and Jeremy London) who spend their days hanging around a shopping mall. A more typical Hollywood comedy than Clerks, Mallrats was both a failure with critics and at the box office and Smith even apologized for making it. Later recanted, the apology still haunts Smith, since he didn't make it sincerely, but as a joke at an awards show.

In 1997, he released Chasing Amy, a more emotionally mature comedy about a man (Ben Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian (Joey Lauren Adams), which gathered moderate acclaim.

In 1999, he released the controversial Dogma about a Catholic who works in an abortion clinic (Linda Fiorentino), selected by God to prevent two renegade angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) from returning to heaven by means of a loophole in Catholic dogma. Despite the fact that Smith is a practicing Catholic, members of the church protested the film as blasphemous.

In 2001, Smith released what he claimed would be his final film featuring Jay and Silent Bob, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, about the duo's attempt to travel to Hollywood to stop production on a film based on their characters. Littered with cameos from characters from previous Smith films, the director called it a "valentine" to his fans.

In 2004, Smith released Jersey Girl about a man's (Affleck) effort to raise his daughter after the death of his wife (played by Jennifer Lopez). The film opened to mixed reviews and ultimately suffered from the poor critical and box office success of the 2003 Affleck and Lopez film "Gigli".

In 2005, Smith will begin filming a sequel to his first film Clerks entitled The Passion of the Clerks. Unlike the first Clerks, the sequel is rumored to have a budget of $250,000 to $5,000,000. According to Smith, the only returning characters from the previous films will be Dante, Randal, Jay and Silent Bob.

Miscellaneous Information

  • Smith was married to Jennifer Schwalbach Smith on 25 April 1999. She was a USA Today reporter who met him when she interviewed him about his films. They have a daughter, Harley Quinn Smith, named after The Joker's sidekick Harley Quinn. Both Jennifer and Harley Quinn Smith have appeared in his films; in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jennifer played jewel thief Missy and Harley played young Silent Bob.
  • Smith's films often feature the same actors including Jason Lee, Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams. Comedians Chris Rock and George Carlin have also been featured in more than one Smith film.
  • Smith's production company is called View Askew Productions.
  • Smith is a noted comic book author who has written for Marvel Comics' Daredevil and Black Cat and DC Comics' Green Arrow. He has also written three original comic books based on his movies: Clerks, Chasing Dogma, and Bluntman and Chronic.
  • Smith has created and appeared in several short "Roadside Attractions" segments for The Tonight Show, detailing his trips around the country.
  • Smith owns and operates Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in his hometown of Red Bank, a store largely dedicated to merchandise related to his films; a second Secret Stash in the Westwood section of Los Angeles was opened in September 2004.
  • For a time Smith was working on a script for an upcoming Superman movie, but the script was eventually discarded when Tim Burton was attached to the product.
  • Smith once wrote a screenplay for a film version of The Six Million Dollar Man.
  • As of 2004, Smith is reportedly at work on writing the screenplay for a new film version of The Green Hornet.

Filmography (as writer and director)

See also

External links



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