BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition - November 2019

YVR
11.19
Snoochie Boochies!
Kevin Smith Reboots
Jay and Silent Bob
One More Time
By YASMINE SHEMESH
We first met Jay and Silent Bob
in Clerks, Kevin Smith’s 1994
indie masterpiece, selling weed
outside the Quick Stop. The
funny, crude, and loveable slackers
went on to become a staple
of Smith’s View Askewniverse,
appearing in nearly all of its films,
and even starring in their own
movie, Jay and Silent Bob Strike
Back (2001). Now, 25 years after
their debut, Jay (Jason Mewes)
and Bob (Smith) are older, somewhat
wiser, still stoned, and back
with their very own sequel.
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
has largely the same premise
as its predecessor, which saw
the “hetero-lifemates” set out
to stop a movie adaptation of
Bluntman and Chronic — the
superhero comic book based on
their alter egos. Only this time,
they’re hitting the road to protest
a Hollywood remake of the first
film they tried to sabotage. It’s
a timely satire of today’s reboot
culture and flirts with being
both sincere and self-aware by
winking at its intentional tropes.
There’s a sweet multidimensional
aspect to it, too, with an impressive
roster of cameos including
Smith’s own daughter, Harley
Quinn.
Smith and Mewes are taking
Reboot on tour, presenting it in
person at theatres across North
America. In Vancouver, they’ll be
showing it at the Rio — a historic
space that Smith, a Vancouver
Film School alum, played a role
in saving from demolition. The
location feels like an obvious
choice for Smith who seems to
do things because they mean
something to him. Case in points:
he makes the kind of movies
he does because he, himself,
is a superfan. He likes to work
surrounded by friends and family
— Jay and Silent Bob are the
quintessential buddies because
Mewes and Smith are in real life,
too. He’s been vocal about how
his near-fatal heart attack last
year spurred the earnest return
of two of his most beloved characters,
who, like all of us, have
grown up just a little bit. But are
still, unequivocally, who they’ve
always been: Jay and Silent Bob,
two of the good guys.
December 1 and 2, 2019 / Rio Theatre
/ Tix: riotheatre.com
VANCOUVER’S ESSENTIAL NOVEMBER HAPPENINGSk
NOVEMBER 2019 BEATROUTE 37