Sunday, March 3, 2002
by Kevin Lang

With the release of the "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" Dimension Collector's Series two disc set DVD and hosting events such as Vulagarthon 2002, Kevin Smith never seems to be out of the spotlight. He provides his fans with weekly posts on his website, www.viewaskew.com, where he answers questions and also keeps his devoted followers up to date on his latest projects. He is an audience's director. He is worshiped by fans who grow beards, don trench coats, and where backwards baseball caps just to be like him. This is even true of the ones who've never met him. I wasn't surprised when I saw Kevin at Vulgarthon 2002, talking amongst his fans as if he was just as much a fan of theirs, because, in fact, he is.

I listened to Mr. Smith during a Q&A session at the festival. Even before he had begun to speak, his presence in the room seemed to conjure a certain curiosity in all of us. I had always thought that this was because his most devoted fans saw him as being larger than life. He seemed to be almost a godlike figure in their eyes, but I soon realized that he was not much different than them, and that was why they admired him so much. Standing on stage, his expression was like it usually is, like there's always something in the back of his mind that you would want to know. Yes, I was there to get scoop, but it helps to explain why people follow him in the way that they do. He knows how he wants to come across, and he possesses a certain amount of confidence, which he uses to make his words and ideas seem infallible. This was a personality trait that I immediately admired in him.

The scoop that I got was the following. Kevin had finished the first draft of the script for his new film, "Jersey Girl." He said that although at 160 pages it was much too long, he felt that it was the best thing that he had ever written. He said that it is more similar to "Chasing Amy" than it is to any of his previous movies. The cast includes Ben Affleck (who is currently working on the upcoming "Daredevil"), Jason Mewes, Joey Lauren Adams, George Carlin, and Jason Lee. Every one of the aforementioned actors has previous experience working with Smith, which is usually a good sign going into production. Further details about "Jersey Girl" will be posted as they come in.

Smith also spoke of his plans to do a new Fletch movie. He said that the only way that it will happen for sure is if the studio lets him cast Jason Lee to play the role of Fletch, which he doesn't see them objecting to. Of course, he said that their will likely be a Chevy Chase cameo to provide a bridge for the fans of the old Fletch movies, in which Chevy Chase played the title role (for those of you who didn't know). However, there is nothing definite regarding the Fletch movie yet, but we'll keep you updated as soon as we hear anything more.