jay and silent bob strike back: there are two kinds of people in the world: those who want to see jay and bob stike back and those who don't. to determine which group you fall into, i've put together the following quiz.

1) do you know who jay and silent bob are? if "no," please drop your pencils now. this film wasn't made with you in mind. curse of the jade scorpion, maybe? (was that film made with anyone in mind?)

2) does the idea of seeing randal and dante again bring a smile to your face?

3a) did you ever wonder what happened to holden after chasing amy? and is banky really...you know?

3b) do you know what chasing amy is?

4) would it be alright for the actors from mallrats to appear in the film as long as they didn't play their characters from that movie?

5) quick: who is mooby?

if you failed to answer "yes" to all of these questions, do NOT go see jay and bob. if you did, congrats this is your film.

jay and silent bob have long been the crunch berries, the marshmallows in the cereal that is kevin smith's oeuvre. and so it was with some trepidation that i viewed the concept of a film with just them. but for the most part, the movie succeeds due largely to both kevin smith's inner 16 year-old wastrel (90% of the dialogue seems to be jay's, though, as always, silent bob has the last word) and the irrepressible jason mewes, who i hope isn't acting at all.

jay and silent bob is a stop-gap film for smith: like clerks it's about nothing except the personality of his characters. the film serves as his personal soapbox, from which he speaks his mind about the internet and especially people who inhabit sites like ain't it cool news (which makes for some of the best amateurish gags in the film). he indulges himself as he ponders his next move. while the movie is enjoyable, it's clear that he needs a new batch of characters -- please no the return of jay and silent bob, not yet at least -- that jay and bob need to return to their sidebar position (but just don't leave the garden state, kev, it gives you context!).

i had one goal in mind when i went to see the film: to laugh, hard and often. which i did, in spades, so yeah, the beginning was rocky and, okay, the charlie's angels thing was overdone and, granted, will ferrell doesn't deserve to live let alone have a prominent role in the film. but i find it near impossible to dislike any film that closes with morris day and the time performing "jungle love" (note to adam sandler: please don't make me test this theory). as the film closed, and the characters from smith films past paraded by, i couldn't help but think that the world smith has created is something special. even auteurs get a vacation and i'll be quite glad to see what he comes up with when he gets back. for now, there is jay and silent bob strike back. and it is enough.