The 4:30 Movie

It seems Kevin is afraid of himself.

Let me explain, we got a bit of the old Kev back in Clerks III, with great dialogs, tons of laughter and an elegance and profoundness to the lines that rivaled his early work.

It wasn't Red State (by far Smith's undefeated Magnum Opus) but at least it looked like he was starting to come back.

And then we get this movie that while cute, it felt like it was afraid of having an edge. 3 or 4 jokes cut through but the rest? Geez...

There's only so much that cameos can do if you don't have anything to say. And Kevin Smith does t seem to have anything important to say... or he's afraid to say anything at all.

Does he think they're going to mock him? Does he think the audience will not "get it"?

He was on his way to be a great writer and a great filmmaker, and for the most part I think he still can be. But he needs to get out of his own way, dig deep and say what he really wants to say.

That or he ran out of things to talk about because he has been podcasting for more than a decade.

Watch the movie for completionism. But that's about it.

Put aside this is from director / writer Kevin Smith and judging 'The 4:30 Movie' on it's own merits you still don't come back with much to show for it. Very few laughs, slightly annoying characters and knee deep life sentiment as the plot charts a course of young romance. A downward trajectory of a man who once made witty comedies continues via tired inspiration.

New Jersey teen Brian (Austin Zajur) rekindles with his crush Melody (Siena Agudong) as plans are made to sneak into the 4:30 showing of a R-rated film together (hence the title). In the meanwhile, he hangs out with his best friends on route to a day at the movies. Here friendships and a possible relationship will be tested by egomaniac manager Mike (Ken Jeong).

I'll give a cast of young actors credit for making their characters feel down to earth if nothing else. However a story tracing the directors early life is equal parts cliched and meandering. With nothing new to say, very few comedy setups it has the entertainment factor of an afterschool special and about as much emotional depth as one too.

This isn't about the 80's neither. Ditto society's affection for going to the movies (kids are sneaking into films they didn't pay for, but hey that's okay?). What does it have to say about growing up or interactions with the opposite sex? Nothing you haven't saw or heard done better. It's coda? Awfully close to self-aggrandizing as in "Here's my life! Look at me! I made it in Hollywood after all!".

A lot of critics think 'The 4:30 Movie' is a move in the right direction for Smith and I couldn't disagree more. This was a tale in boredom and eventually I gave up hope it would get better. A handful of cameos don't elevate things. With nothing insightful, no killer dialog and few laughs the hardcore fans are saying this is a return to form. It really ain't.

Brian David is in love with Melody Barnegat and asks her out to catch a 4:30 show of Bucklick, an R rated comedy film. He hadn't spoken to her for an year after he had got too scared while making out with her in the pool. She has decided to give him another chance but Brian's best friend Burny is not at all happy with this development as he along with Belly wanted to do theater hopping all day. Things take a turn when Belly is banned for life by egotistic theater manager yet they sneak him in. Their day's plan gets to be reshuffled to accommodate Melody but things take the worse turn when all 3 get banned. How does Brian and Melody's date turn out to be on this messy day? How does the friendship triumph over the egotistical manager? How the movies play an impactful role in all of this, forms rest of the story.

Kevin Smith has once again reached out to his actual comfort zone to deliver yet another film that is instantly relatable. For someone who loves movies, sharing that emotion with his audience and connecting with it, isn't much of a challenge. This might not be Clerks or Mallrats, the characters still drive the story and they do the trick. Belly eats his up his big moment and it works really well. All the nostalgic film references and ofcourse overly repetitive jokes about films and celebs' future while knowing the predictions turn exactly opposite, are still fun. The simple story of theater hopping and the aim to make it to the 4:30pm show with constant challenges thrown in the form of the theater manager while emphasising on the friendship as well as first love, Kevin Smith is at ease in terms of making. In the end, that little conversation between Brian and Usher, is what truly stayed with me - we are filmmakers, we just haven't made our movie yet. For all movie lovers, it is worth catching The 4:30pm Movie.

Kevin Smith FINALLY gets his mojo back in this one.

For the first time since Red State, or arguably Tusk, the film is shot with some sense of inspired visual creativity. The promise of the filmmaker Kevin Smith could be that was seen in Clerks II finally gets to fully bloom. The confused editing and flat cinematography that haunted Yoga Hosers and Clerks III is finally gone, and not only is it very pleasant to look at, but the slick charisma of Kevin Smith's characters has finally returned.

The worst offender might be that certain jokes and pieces of expository dialogue repeats itself a little too much for my taste, and the humor leans more towards the laid back low-brow style of humor prevalent in Mallrats, and less towards the frenzy of snappy zingers of Clerks or Dogma.

Where The 4:30 Movie truly shines, however, and becomes something truly special and memorable, is it's authenticity. The love story feels so personal, sweet and vulnerable, told with a unique voice that only Kevin Smith could pull off. The banter and chemistry between Brian and Melody reminds you of those truly charming, flirtatious interactions from Clerks, Chasing Amy and Clerks II.

Smith does something you might have never expected to see in one of his films, which is to completely let go of his dialogue on ocassions and completely surrender the film to the score by Bear McCreary, which gives it an eerie and bittersweet feeling of stepping into a nostalgic dream.

All in all, The 4:30 Movie feels like a beefed up version of Mallrats, with a very loose hangout movie structure that more than anything captures a vibe and a feeling that makes you go "You know what? That was very sweet. I'm glad you shared that with me, Kevin".

If you've been a fan of The Askewniverse since the 90s, and might've felt like he disappeared into a cloud of weed smoke for a while, I do wholeheartedly recommend you check this out. It didn't always connect with me comedically, but the voice you remembered that Kevin Smith used to have back in the 90s is so back, with a far more cinematically confident vibe this time. It starts and ends so strong, with scenes that most definitely deserve to be on the highlight reel of this man's career.

Everything you could possibly love or hate about a Kevin Smith movie is in here, and whether or not if you're fan, I think it's worth celebrating that unlike certain films he's put out recently that almost felt like a passive-aggressive attack on the audience, this is probably the first time since Zack & Miri Make A Porno that I can confidently say to myself that "THAT was a Kevin Smith movie!"

Couldn't sit through the 2nd half of the movie, except of one joke where a character wishes death upon another was the only moment that made me giggle, other than that everything was so unnatural and cringe, not even guest appearances of Justin Long nor Jason Lee could have saved it. Clerks and Mallrats fans stay away and rather go see Chasing Amy on a loop, this is borderline criminal on pair with his Yoga Hosers attempts at humor. I dont know what the cause behind this trend, age? Times of political correctness? If that's the case I would appreciate more attempts in vein of Tusk and Red State going forward. Stick to horror genre Kevin. Thanks your fan.