Why does everyone hate on this movie so much?! Sure, it's not the best movie in the world, but it sure ain't the worst!! Liv Tyler is as lovely as ever, George Carlin pulls off the Dad role very well, the young girl who plays Gertie is just sweet enough without being infuriating, even Affleck isn't too bad!!! It also has minimal Jennifer Lopez, and for a movie with her in it, that's a massive positive!
shareEh I think it's because it's just too saccharine sweet, to the point of it being distracting. We want Smith's disaffected gen X voice, not this boring family drama that takes itself too serious. It just wasn't as funny because of it, and comes off generic which is usually the opposite of Smith's writing style.
The little girl is also annoying as hell and needs to learn her place as child in an adult world, like the rest of us did. You don't talk to 6 year old kids like they're adults and ask what their opinion is on things. They like fart noises, bright colors and yelling.
You simply can't replace your adult wife with your 6 year old kid, it just doesn't work. That it took someone going through all this to figure it out is just stupid and doesn't make for a good movie plot. Nor does it set you up to make very many jokes...
"You're the most highly intelligent person that no one has every achieved"- user PreciousGotFatAgain
This film suffered greatly from the Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez backlash at the time. Also, Kevin Smith veering away from the View Askewniverse didn't help matters much with the emotionally stunted portion of his fanbase.
Personally, I've always nursed a soft spot for this flick. Ben Affleck swearing at a little kid while George Carlin plays Grandpa. What's not to love?
Anyone here mentions Hotel California dies before the first line clears his lips.
I think it had to do with Kevin Smith sort of "selling out" with this movie since it tries to be more mainstream audience friendly than his previous films.
shareVery late to this party. I only just saw this movie, and I'm sorry for that. It wouldn't win any awards, but it's a fine movie. Nothing wrong with saccharine. Fairy tales might not be very realistic, but we need them to show us what to strive for. Not even sure I'd call the ending "fairy tale"-- it's just humble and hopeful. We don't even know if Ollie/Maya ever really work out.
I do think Jersey Girl was too associated with the Ben-JLo-Gigli thing, and people didn't know to expect a movie like this from Kevin Smith. I really couldn't see a Clerks fan engaging with this sort of movie, but there are probably a few out there... somewhere.
even Affleck isn't too bad!!!
LOL!!! Agree with all of the above.
shareIt's an OK movie, even good, but it is somewhat cliched and predictable and very sugary (and kind of glorifying Affleck and Smith, trying to claim they're great people in real life).
Most of the hate was probably from associating it with Gigli and tabloid Bennifer overexposure.
Gotta agree with that. I was reluctant to see it when it premiered.
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