The bong show

>> The Dogma prophets return in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back

by JASON BOGDANERIS

Anyone who thinks pretenses like story and character have no place in comedy will be pleased with Kevin's Smith's latest effort. Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back thrusts his ever-present sidekicks (Dogma, Clerks) into the spotlight, tossing narrative coherence out the window in favour of laugh-a-minute zaniness. He's deliberately gone lowbrow in what he claims will be the characters' swan song, cleverly lowering expectations at the outset then delivering a film with its share of laughs.

The story meanders along road-trip style as sewer-mouthed pothead Jay (Jason Mewes) and his fellow slacker Silent Bob (director Smith) set out to sabotage a film being made based on their comic book alter egos Bluntman and Chronic. So they head to Hollywood hitching a ride with a van full of babes posing as animal-rights activists. The girls are soon revealed to be cunning jewel-thieves using the duo as patsies but not before romance blossoms between Jay and Justice (Shannon Elizabeth from American Pie). It's essentially an excuse for jokes about Jay's stupidity, his insatiable lust as well as a truckload of gay jokes. Once they arrive in Tinseltown, however, the film becomes an orgy of self-referential humour directed at the entertainment industry.

The running gag is why anyone would be inane enough to make a film about these two morons and, more importantly, who would pay to see it. There are countless winks to the audience as a parade of stars appears in self-effacing cameos. While it's fun seeing actors like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon poke fun at themselves, gags at the expense of Good Will Hunting and Mirimax soon get terrifically tired.

The fact that Silent Bob's character is limited to eye-rolling and pantomime means much depends on Jason Mewes's charisma to keep things moving. Considering how one-dimensional the persona is he does a pretty good job of it, aided by the cast of thousands and a script with pretty good taste in bad taste. The real standout is SNL's Will Ferrel as a gung-ho Federal Wildlife Marshal on the trail of a fugitive orangutan. Many of the other roles blur the line between cameo and character, namely Chris Rock in trademark rant mode as a tyrannical director. For the most part the narrative flow has a stoner logic, whereby you forget what happened five minutes before. Think of it as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Brain Dead.

Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back opens Friday, Aug. 24