May 31, 2025

Jersey Girl (2004) – Kevin Smith’s Sweetest Swing, Ben Affleck and JLo's Off Screen Impact and Embracing Quirky Authenticity

Episode Summary:
In this episode of The Fandom Portals Podcast , Aaron and Brash revisit Kevin Smith’s most divisive film: Jersey Girl . Departing from his usual vulgar wit and the View Askewniverse, Smith explores fatherhood, grief, and second chances in this misunderstood dramedy starring Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, and George Carlin. The hosts reflect on how real-life publicity, editing regrets, and emotional resonance shaped this movie’s legacy—and whether it deserves its Razzie rep. Plus, insights from Reddit and Threads, Kevin Smith trivia, and the always chaotic Fandom Fact Face-Off.

Topics:

Kevin Smith’s pivot from Jay & Silent Bob to heartfelt drama
The Bennifer effect: How tabloids tanked Jersey Girl ’s reception
George Carlin’s final role and understated performance
The child actor conundrum: Raquel Castro’s performance
Why Liv Tyler’s character feels dated (and a little cringey)
Behind-the-scenes regret: the 30 minutes cut due to J.Lo backlash
Ben Affleck’s subtle performance and emotional arc
Deleted scenes, missed cameos, and Bruce Springsteen’s near-involvement
Personal reflections on fatherhood, identity, and living for love over legacy

Key Takeaways:

Jersey Girl was Smith’s personal risk—a film about loss, parenting, and redemption—but got buried under Bennifer gossip and fan expectations.
Kevin Smith now regrets cutting 30 minutes of emotional depth due to public backlash.
The film’s emotional core lies in accepting love in unexpected places and embracing quirky authenticity , like Ollie supporting Gertie’s oddball Sweeney Todd musical.
Ben Affleck’s nuanced grief performance gets more credit today than it did in 2004.
The message: True love isn’t reshaping people to fit your world—it’s choosing to enter theirs, flaws and all.

Quotes:

“True love isn't about molding someone into your world—it's about stepping into theirs.”
“He kept calling her ‘the kid’—until the moment he saw her for who she was.”
“You’re the only thing I’ve ever been good at.”
“That street sweeper was the Batmobile to her. That’s all that matters.”

Apple Podcast Tags:
Jersey Girl, Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, George Carlin, View Askewniverse, Movie Analysis, Fatherhood Films, Pop Culture Podcast, Geek Freaks Network, Fandom Portals Podcast, Movie Trivia, Film Deep Dive, 2000s Cinema, Jennifer Lopez

Instagram: instagram.com/fandomportals/?locale=en
Threads: threads.net/@fandomportals
Email: fandomportals@gmail.com
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/fandomportals

00:00 - Introduction to Jersey Girl

03:01 - Hosts Share Their Weekly Gratitudes

08:47 - Film Background and Kevin Smith's Vision

15:02 - Hot Takes and First Impressions

30:22 - Fandom Fact Face-Off Trivia Battle

43:20 - Set Secrets: The Bennifer Effect

53:17 - Most Valuable Takeaways

01:01:01 - Rating the Film and Final Thoughts

WEBVTT

00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:22.121
All right, in this episode, we are going to be covering Jersey Girl, made in 2004, and you will learn how stepping away from Kevin Smith's unusual style shaped the fate of Jersey Girl, how the surprising power of real world publicity can impact the movie for better or worse, and you will also learn why embracing individuality might just be the secret to building stronger, more meaningful relationships.

00:00:22.121 --> 00:00:43.743
Welcome to the Fandom Portals podcast, the podcast that explores how fandoms can help us learn and grow.

00:00:43.743 --> 00:00:49.054
This week, Brash and I are tackling the Kevin Smith classic Jersey Girl, made in 2004.

00:00:49.054 --> 00:00:59.911
It's a movie about a widower who must look after his precocious daughter and rebuild his life and career after he's sidelined by an unexpected tragedy and a personal blow-up.

00:00:59.911 --> 00:01:02.307
Before we get into that, we're going to do our gratitudes.

00:01:02.307 --> 00:01:03.350
Brash, how are you going today?

00:01:04.161 --> 00:01:05.305
I am very good.

00:01:05.305 --> 00:01:13.084
I was actually trying to find something from the movie I could quote on my entrance at Intro Inn and unfortunately, that's okay, because you're the only thing I've ever been good at.

00:01:13.084 --> 00:01:15.792
Ooh, yeah, got it Nice.

00:01:15.792 --> 00:01:30.135
I was going to go the line from one of the only lines I found really funny, from when the kids have to to at the very start, when the kids are doing like their hotel or talking about their parents jobs and the long kids like oh, my parents are very religious.

00:01:31.102 --> 00:01:32.546
I could hear him screaming at jesus.

00:01:32.546 --> 00:01:38.801
I thought I was like ah yes no um, anyway, what are you grateful for, brad?

00:01:38.801 --> 00:01:38.941
What's?

00:01:38.960 --> 00:01:40.804
like grateful for um.

00:01:41.224 --> 00:01:42.447
I am grateful for my neighbors.

00:01:42.447 --> 00:01:54.522
This week I had to go away for work for just a night and they fed their little buddy, ace, for me, and I'm always grateful.

00:01:54.522 --> 00:01:59.030
They're always there to help me out if I need it or look after Ace when I need it, which isn't too often.

00:01:59.030 --> 00:02:03.411
And the next time will be when we go to Melbourne to watch Critical Role.

00:02:03.411 --> 00:02:07.510
And that's four nights, five days, being away from Ace.

00:02:07.510 --> 00:02:10.389
So I struggled one night.

00:02:10.389 --> 00:02:13.039
Let's see how long I can go after five days.

00:02:13.219 --> 00:02:15.925
I feel the same way, man, I feel the same way.

00:02:15.925 --> 00:02:23.145
Yeah, very excited for Critical Role trip to Melbourne, but, yeah, the time away from loved ones and loved pets and things like that is going to be tricky.

00:02:23.145 --> 00:02:28.530
My gratitude in the spirit of this movie, jersey Girl, goes to my partner, kalia.

00:02:28.530 --> 00:02:31.252
I've talked about her on the podcast before but I'm very thankful for her.

00:02:31.252 --> 00:02:38.599
This movie, especially in some of the themes in it, made me realize how lucky I am to raise children with a loving and devoted partner.

00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:43.025
So thank you, kalia, for all that you do, thank you for the sacrifices you make and I love you very much.

00:02:43.284 --> 00:02:47.401
From Aaron no, I need to tell you more I do I need to tell you more?

00:02:47.801 --> 00:02:51.463
and here I am telling it publicly to lots of people in front of Brash.

00:02:51.463 --> 00:02:52.104
Thank you very much.

00:02:52.104 --> 00:02:52.706
I love you, Carly.

00:02:52.706 --> 00:03:00.568
All right, Enough of the sappy stuff, let's get into a Right now.

00:03:00.568 --> 00:03:02.991
Brash with Jersey Girl.

00:03:02.991 --> 00:03:04.112
Okay, here's the call sheet.

00:03:04.112 --> 00:03:05.756
This movie was directed by Kevin Smith.

00:03:05.756 --> 00:03:07.045
It was his sixth movie.

00:03:07.045 --> 00:03:08.887
It was also written by Kevin Smith.

00:03:08.887 --> 00:03:11.007
Do you know any other Kevin Smith movies?

00:03:11.007 --> 00:03:13.943
Brash, I know nearly all of them, I believe.

00:03:14.685 --> 00:03:15.346
Give us a few.

00:03:15.346 --> 00:03:16.668
Hasting Amy.

00:03:16.668 --> 00:03:18.191
Yes, clerks, clerks.

00:03:18.191 --> 00:03:18.491
2.

00:03:18.491 --> 00:03:19.152
Clerks 3.

00:03:19.152 --> 00:03:20.094
James Silent Bob.

00:03:20.094 --> 00:03:26.002
James Silent Bob Strikes Back, correct Bob.

00:03:26.002 --> 00:03:27.248
And Bob Bob struck back, correct, correct, correct.

00:03:27.248 --> 00:03:27.912
Then you got more rats.

00:03:27.931 --> 00:03:29.057
duplex dogma, one of my favorite movies of all time.

00:03:29.078 --> 00:03:33.200
Yes, dogma rules genocide Bob reboot, which was it was out.

00:03:33.200 --> 00:03:34.483
It was a movie.

00:03:34.483 --> 00:03:36.265
Yeah, there's the ones I can think of.

00:03:36.265 --> 00:03:38.629
And sorry, it wasn't genocide Bob, it's genocide Bob strikes back.

00:03:38.629 --> 00:03:44.264
That's the movie, not genocide Bob and then genocide Bob back, but anyway, I got a sneeze coming.

00:03:44.264 --> 00:03:49.634
I should Bust, bust, bust Good movies Dogma I love Dogma.

00:03:49.634 --> 00:03:51.683
Dogma's one of my all time favourite movies.

00:03:51.865 --> 00:03:56.007
He's definitely got a style which I think he did step away from for Jersey Girl.

00:03:56.007 --> 00:04:11.269
I saw an interview with him where he said that his mum was quite happy with this one because he stepped away from his usual language-rich type of movies where the four-letter words are quite well-practiced and the themes are also quite well-practiced.

00:04:11.269 --> 00:04:13.889
So Kevin Smith's mother was very pleased with this one.

00:04:13.889 --> 00:04:16.367
This movie stars Ben Affleck.

00:04:16.367 --> 00:04:20.891
I have been on a Ben Affleck binge for the last month and a half.

00:04:20.891 --> 00:04:33.869
I'm trying to watch as many movies of Ben Affleck as I can, and some of you might say that is a monumentous feat, because you know he has some really good movies and he also has some absolute trash movies and he has some that are very much in between.

00:04:33.869 --> 00:04:39.610
But I think he's a talented actor and also a talented filmmaker and a talented writer as well.

00:04:39.610 --> 00:04:46.266
So this one is one of his more grounded roles in a emotionally driven sort of movie.

00:04:46.266 --> 00:04:48.668
He is the leading character alongside Liv Tyler.

00:04:48.668 --> 00:04:51.129
He's also alongside George Carlin.

00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:53.293
What do you think of George Carlin Rash?

00:04:54.072 --> 00:04:55.235
I love George Carlin.

00:04:55.235 --> 00:04:57.156
The only time I've the more.

00:04:57.156 --> 00:05:00.062
The most I've seen George Carlin is in Kevin Smith movies.

00:05:00.062 --> 00:05:00.583
Yep.

00:05:00.923 --> 00:05:01.845
Some of the most I've seen.

00:05:01.865 --> 00:05:06.653
Yeah, comedy specials and I always loved George Carlin.

00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:15.040
Yeah, I think he played a more serious role than what people were used to seeing him in, and Kevin Smith kind of wanted to show his acting chops in that space.

00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:19.401
This was the last movie that he was in before he unfortunately passed away.

00:05:19.401 --> 00:05:27.708
This one also has Jennifer Lopez in it for a brief period of time We'll talk about that a little bit later but it also starred Raquel Castroro, who played gertie.

00:05:27.708 --> 00:05:35.110
The young girl in this movie brashes on record as hating, uh, child actors yep, unashamedly hating child actors.

00:05:36.273 --> 00:05:45.194
on raquel castro, just briefly mostly annoying sometimes all right, as all seven-year year olds should be Mostly annoying, but sometimes alright.

00:05:45.194 --> 00:05:54.802
This budget was $35 million and it made $35.5 million worldwide, so it was considered a flop, so much so that it was nominated for a Razzie Lots of Razzies.

00:05:54.802 --> 00:05:55.966
Do you know what a Razzie is, brash?

00:05:56.781 --> 00:05:58.822
Like the worst movie of the year or something.

00:05:58.884 --> 00:06:00.300
It's pretty much the opposite of the Oscar.

00:06:00.300 --> 00:06:20.086
It's called the Golden Raspberry Awards, so basically, when people blow the raspberry to a movie, not a serious award show, it's a parody award show that honors the worst films, and Jersey Girl received nominations for the worst actor in Ben Affleck, worst supporting actress in Liv Tyler and the worst on-screen couple, with Affleck and Jennifer Lopez being nominated.

00:06:20.086 --> 00:06:41.910
Jesus, they didn't win, but I think the public reception of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez influenced those votes at the time, which is a bit of a shame, because this was a bit of a passion project and a personal project for Kevin Smith, and the fact that it wasn't so successful may have been something that he's reflected on in years to come.

00:06:41.910 --> 00:06:44.627
All right, let's get into our hot takes.

00:06:47.201 --> 00:06:55.129
This is our hot takes segment, where we discuss our first thoughts of the media and unpack the boldest opinions, from what surprised us to what split the room.

00:06:55.129 --> 00:06:59.612
We'll also highlight your hot takes from our threads and Instagram and Reddit communities.

00:06:59.612 --> 00:07:02.209
So if you want to get involved in that, check out the show notes below.

00:07:02.209 --> 00:07:05.785
This is your hot takes on Jersey Girl 2004.

00:07:05.785 --> 00:07:09.072
Br brash, what are your overall thoughts on the movie?

00:07:09.072 --> 00:07:11.603
When was the first time you watched this movie I think I actually watched it.

00:07:12.024 --> 00:07:22.916
My mom bought it, I think, and I decided to watch it with her in the lounge room, so I think I was moving about 14, 15 I think it was a similar age.

00:07:22.976 --> 00:07:25.083
My my introduction to this was a dvd.

00:07:25.083 --> 00:07:27.641
I don't know who bought it, but yes, I watched it as well.

00:07:27.641 --> 00:07:41.259
I think the first thing that stood out to me was the fact that I remember when this came out there was a whole lot of buzz around Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, which we'll get into a little bit later.

00:07:41.259 --> 00:07:44.406
But Jennifer Lopez didn't appear in the film very much.

00:07:44.406 --> 00:07:50.071
She was cut pretty early out, taken to heaven, you might say, in childbirth.

00:07:50.071 --> 00:07:51.434
She died yeah, she did.

00:07:52.081 --> 00:07:56.012
I think this was a bit of a different movie for Kevin Smith to bring out.

00:07:56.012 --> 00:08:17.348
It was a love letter to fatherhood, so they say, and it was inspired by the fact that Kevin Smith himself had just had a child, harley Quinn Smith and I saw an interview with him talking about the inspiration for this movie and he saw his wife playing with his daughter and he thought to himself how lucky he was to have her and what it would be like to raise that child without her.

00:08:17.348 --> 00:08:21.303
And he wanted to explore that and he wrote 50 pages of a script and put it to the side.

00:08:21.303 --> 00:08:39.917
And then a while later he was talking to Ben Affleck at a 4th of July party at Ben Affleck's house and Ben Affleck was just coming off a few sort of big Hollywood projects like Pearl Harbor and he was marketing that movie out everywhere and he just wanted to get to something a little bit more grounded, character driven.

00:08:39.917 --> 00:08:43.405
That was dialogue heavy and Kevin Smith said well, I've got something here that I've written.

00:08:43.405 --> 00:08:49.106
He handed the script over, or sent it over to Ben Affleck days later and Ben loved the idea.

00:08:49.106 --> 00:08:54.090
He thought it was exactly what he needed to do, so he dove onto it, being frequent collaborators as well.

00:08:54.090 --> 00:08:57.551
So the two of them got working onto Jersey Girl.

00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:01.009
But did you enjoy it upon your first watch, brach?

00:09:01.009 --> 00:09:02.065
Did you enjoy it on this watch?

00:09:02.065 --> 00:09:02.780
What were your thoughts?

00:09:02.861 --> 00:09:10.650
Probably enjoyed it on the first watch, more so than the second watch, because on the first watch I was only 14, 15.

00:09:11.259 --> 00:09:21.481
I was still young and dreaming about the future and it probably still hit me in the feels and, being from a family that's a broken family, I didn't really get to see my dad too often.

00:09:21.481 --> 00:09:30.126
I don't get to really see my dad too often, so I think sort of it'd be harder, like not so much that my dad's father was dead and not in my life at all, but he wasn't always in my life.

00:09:30.126 --> 00:09:32.006
So I think back then probably hit me a bit.

00:09:32.006 --> 00:09:50.586
It probably was like a bit of a nicer watch and also I was a fan of Kevin Smith's work and also the titles in it and, being a teenage boy, that's always just a good watch.

00:09:50.586 --> 00:09:51.707
But yeah, uh, this watch.

00:09:51.707 --> 00:09:55.375
However, yeah, it was like I didn't feel as emotionally towards it as I thought I would be like looking at something.

00:09:55.375 --> 00:10:01.020
I know they're not not that different in age, but for some reason ben affleck just seems so much older than live tyler.

00:10:01.020 --> 00:10:04.655
For some reason it always seemed like the Tyler was almost a teenager and he was an adult.

00:10:04.777 --> 00:10:13.004
Well, I think in the movie he's in his mid-30s and she's telling him that she's 26, 27, so there is a bit of an age difference there.

00:10:13.063 --> 00:10:25.610
I mean, yeah, but it seems it seems a bit more like huge than that, because she's like, oh, I'm doing the college report and it seems like in his 30s, like it.

00:10:25.610 --> 00:10:35.913
Just it's just like because, and also like she's very like spirited and happy and free and lots of flittery and stuff like that and I don't know.

00:10:35.913 --> 00:10:38.625
It just seems the connection was just not there for me.

00:10:38.625 --> 00:10:50.240
Yeah, and then I'd forgotten Jeff Lopez was even in the movie and honestly, I couldn't even tell it was her when looking at her until she spoke and I'm like, ah, it's Jeff Lopez, because he has the same voice in everything.

00:10:50.932 --> 00:10:54.863
Yeah, yeah, it was a good watch, don't get me wrong.

00:10:54.863 --> 00:11:19.748
It was still a good watch, but for me it just wasn't as impactful as it probably was back when I was younger and now, so that I'm in my 30s as well and don't have a family or anything like that that I have to worry about, it sort of misses the mark for me, I guess for me, because I'm like you with family and obviously it might impact you a little bit differently.

00:11:19.748 --> 00:11:23.006
Me, it's just like well, that's what you get for falling in love, you idiot.

00:11:26.184 --> 00:11:27.590
My take was a little bit different to that.

00:11:27.590 --> 00:11:34.673
I did enjoy the movie, but for me I was watching Ben Affleck come to a realization that I think is pretty obvious.

00:11:34.673 --> 00:11:47.864
So obviously he's trying to get his career on track, but in the process of that he's also detracting away from his relationship with those people that love him a lot, also detracting away from his relationship with those people that love him a lot.

00:11:47.864 --> 00:11:57.633
And I think in my kind of life I have positioned myself in a place where I can be there for my family as much as possible, whilst also providing and being the provider and the protector that I can be.

00:11:57.633 --> 00:12:08.812
So for me it didn't really hit as an emotional realization that Ben Affleck's character of Ollie goes through I didn't think the same thing that he did and go through the journey as he went through it.

00:12:08.812 --> 00:12:12.330
It was almost for me watching him catch up.

00:12:12.330 --> 00:12:20.591
I guess and that might sound, you know, arrogant or whatever but I'm a very similar age to what Ollie is in this story.

00:12:20.591 --> 00:12:35.427
I'm a father of two as well and I think that, yeah, it just it wasn't, and I'm not a aspirational businessman like he is in this in the music industry, but it wasn't so much of a hard shift for me, if you know what I mean.

00:12:35.427 --> 00:12:58.389
It was almost like a natural kind of shift into like it was difficult, it was tricky, but that shift about being aspirational with my work and then also fatherhood like I've always tried to sort of balance them as best I can and always prioritize fatherhood where I could, whilst also still providing so for me it was a little bit of annoyance watching Ben Affleck's character and then I also looking at some of the themes that were in this.

00:12:58.389 --> 00:13:11.514
Now, like watching this and seeing some of the themes about like how forward Liv Tyler's character is upon just meeting Ben Affleck's character, that was a little bit of a cringe for me as well when I was watching it.

00:13:11.514 --> 00:13:17.528
Everybody can have their own thing, that's fine, no judgment, but it just felt a little bit forward for me.

00:13:17.528 --> 00:13:21.630
I felt a bit uncomfortable watching it, honestly, at my age now.

00:13:21.630 --> 00:13:28.032
So I like the movie, it's an enjoyable watch and I think there's some definitely poignant themes in it that can be explored.

00:13:28.032 --> 00:13:29.533
But yeah, I'm the same as you.

00:13:29.533 --> 00:13:34.263
I didn't really enjoy it as much as I kind of did the first time I watched it, where it was a little bit more emotionally impactful.

00:13:34.263 --> 00:13:35.989
So, yeah, similar vibes.

00:13:36.068 --> 00:13:38.416
Let's see what our threads had to say.

00:13:38.416 --> 00:13:39.600
Peruna, 2001.

00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:40.761
Frequent commenter.

00:13:40.761 --> 00:13:42.664
I think we mentioned this person last week as well.

00:13:42.664 --> 00:13:46.732
So, peruna, thank you for continually commenting on our threads.

00:13:47.394 --> 00:13:59.989
They said I remember a lot of drama outside of the movie with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez and also Kevin Smith's first move outside the Jay and Silent Bob universe Funny because everyone judged it because of Jiggly and didn't realize that J-Lo was only in it.

00:13:59.989 --> 00:14:00.551
Briefly.

00:14:00.551 --> 00:14:04.291
I liked it in which Kevin Smith had continued to make some serious things.

00:14:04.291 --> 00:14:17.783
I think I agree with some of what Peruna said, but I also disagree because I do like Kevin Smith's comedic stuff as well and I have watched him say in interviews that this was like a stretch for him.

00:14:17.783 --> 00:14:27.573
It was him trying to flex his muscles to do something a little bit more serious, a little bit more grounded, something that was apart from the universe that he's usually known for.

00:14:27.573 --> 00:14:38.649
I think it's called the Askew Universe or Askew Universe, yeah, and it's basically the universe that features those five interconnected movies with Jay and Silent Bob as recurring characters.

00:14:38.649 --> 00:14:41.326
The thing with that is Kevin Smith.

00:14:41.828 --> 00:14:42.409
Yeah, yeah.

00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:51.291
Kevin Smith also said that he wanted to try and make a movie without the safety net of his past movies to help him.

00:14:51.291 --> 00:15:04.528
So a lot of times when he was writing gags or writing jokes, if he didn't know how to finish off a punchline, he could just slip in a gag or a reference to an old movie and an old character and rely on some of the work he'd done before.

00:15:04.528 --> 00:15:12.864
But he wanted to see if he could go without that in this Jersey Girl and tell a little bit more of a personal story about a message he wanted to portray.

00:15:12.864 --> 00:15:22.621
We have Hagen Gabriel who says the little girl was funny, she should have had a career in commercials or something, and that they liked George Carlin in it as well.

00:15:22.621 --> 00:15:27.285
I think I agree with all of those points GC Sears says.

00:15:27.285 --> 00:15:37.071
I always had a soft spot for Jersey Girl, rewatched it a few years ago and still enjoyed it, though Liv Tyler's character and material hasn't aged well as I discussed before.

00:15:37.091 --> 00:15:38.274
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:15:38.274 --> 00:15:41.044
I still have to say I love Liv Tyler.

00:15:41.044 --> 00:15:46.208
For me it wasn't so much like I'm comfortable, it was more like it just seemed forced to push the story along.

00:15:46.590 --> 00:15:48.693
I think so too, and it was kind of exploring that.

00:15:48.693 --> 00:16:01.179
It was almost like a will he jump at it or will he not, to prove how dedicated he is to raising his child, like the fabling test of morality for the character of Ollie.

00:16:01.179 --> 00:16:08.168
Will he jump at this chance or will he continue to raise his daughter and honour the connection that he had with his widowed partner or not?

00:16:08.168 --> 00:16:10.385
Like that's kind of what it felt like for me.

00:16:10.385 --> 00:16:30.267
And then you know the manner in which of her forwardness it also played into the part where she seemed like she was a little bit more spirited and a little bit younger than he was because he'd already gone through a career upward trend in the music business and then a downfall, and then he then worked again.

00:16:30.326 --> 00:16:37.188
you know, seven years had passed as he was raising his daughter and seven years he was doing the street sweeper job.

00:16:37.188 --> 00:16:39.869
So yeah, it's just kind of displaced those two a little bit.

00:16:39.869 --> 00:16:49.754
We have BlackRockJoe, who was a fan of our D&D Valiant Odyssey show, and shout out to Joe if you're listening to this one for following us over to our new podcast, the Absolute Legend.

00:16:49.820 --> 00:16:52.764
He says not a horrible movie at all, and I can agree with that too.

00:16:52.764 --> 00:16:59.621
Outside of the Box podcast, which is Christine, who's guested on this show as well, she says hi Christine, yeah, hi Christine.

00:16:59.621 --> 00:17:04.465
It introduced her to Sweeney Todd, which is now one of her favorite musicals of all time.

00:17:05.007 --> 00:17:06.548
One of my favorite musicals of all time as well.

00:17:06.548 --> 00:17:07.989
I absolutely love Sweeney Todd.

00:17:09.131 --> 00:17:13.433
I love the movie adaptation of the musical starring Johnny Depp and Helena.

00:17:13.654 --> 00:17:15.596
That was also extremely good as well.

00:17:15.957 --> 00:17:16.396
Yeah, yeah.

00:17:16.396 --> 00:17:30.258
So I think this was actually my introduction to Sweeney Todd too, because I'd never heard of it prior as well, Sweeney Todd being the musical performance that Gertie and Ollie and her family does at the end of the movie in the third act.

00:17:30.258 --> 00:17:35.361
All right, Seems like mostly positive from our threads that they say a lot of the same thing where it's.

00:17:35.361 --> 00:17:41.691
The movie was underrated at the time, but generally heartfelt and quite well liked.

00:17:41.691 --> 00:17:43.968
Let's see what our Reddit has to say.

00:17:43.968 --> 00:17:46.319
Yes, we have CursedSnowman5000.

00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:51.645
That says I actually thought it was a pretty good movie and wish this was the avenue.

00:17:51.645 --> 00:17:58.521
Kevin had gone down as a maturing director after leaving the Jay and Silent Bob stuff with Strikes Back, but sadly that is not what happened.

00:17:59.385 --> 00:18:03.506
And probably a good thing, because then we wouldn't have the boys.

00:18:04.740 --> 00:18:07.103
Hmm, did he write that or adapt it?

00:18:07.123 --> 00:18:08.944
And probably a good thing, because then we wouldn't have the boys.

00:18:08.944 --> 00:18:09.865
Mm, mm, did he write that or adapt it?

00:18:09.865 --> 00:18:11.367
Yeah, he's the one that produced it, him and Kripke.

00:18:11.367 --> 00:18:11.989
Oh nice From.

00:18:12.009 --> 00:18:12.429
Supernatural.

00:18:12.429 --> 00:18:13.250
Yeah, Yep.

00:18:13.250 --> 00:18:16.634
So we have DFGDF.

00:18:16.634 --> 00:18:24.425
It says it's not his best movie and, as recent years have shown, it's definitely not his worst movie by a mile as well, Even if critics ripped it apart at the time.

00:18:24.425 --> 00:18:38.145
That was more about the Jennifer Ben thing that was going on kind of right in the middle of his filmography and a good middle-quotest kind of movie for the recent decade, and the performances were fun.

00:18:38.145 --> 00:19:01.358
We also have a really, really long answer that comes from Nolpillv2, and basically the summary of it says that that they find kevin smith the only one that can really bring the heartfeltedness of a john hughes movie into something that has dick jokes and star wars babble and characters that are older than 20.

00:19:01.358 --> 00:19:09.786
But he says that jersey girl doesn't really exemplify this, but it is genuinely a sweet movie and that they remember it pretty fondly as well.

00:19:09.786 --> 00:19:18.348
So I think it's quite positively received now in 2025, but I don't think that was the case in 2004.

00:19:18.348 --> 00:19:35.953
Yeah, it's definitely the case in Rotten Tomatoes as well the aggregate site and they've basically given it a 42% on the tomato meter and for the audience score it's not much better a 48%, I think.

00:19:35.953 --> 00:19:40.503
At the time it was definitely not well received, but now it is viewed a little bit more kindly.

00:19:40.503 --> 00:19:41.325
All right with that.

00:19:41.365 --> 00:19:42.886
Let's get into our fandom fact face-off.

00:19:42.886 --> 00:19:46.171
All right With that.

00:19:46.171 --> 00:19:48.534
Let's get into our fandom fact face-off.

00:19:48.534 --> 00:19:54.857
All right, the hosts go head-to-head with the trivia battle about the focus media learning new facts along the way.

00:19:54.857 --> 00:20:00.744
When the hosts collectively gain 25 points from correct answers, we will give away a movie voucher to someone on our mailing list.

00:20:00.744 --> 00:20:11.821
Our mailing list link is at wwwfandomportalspodcastcom and we will send you one email every month with our newsletter and also any giveaway updates.

00:20:11.821 --> 00:20:15.829
So far we have nine points, which means we need 16 more before the giveaway activates.

00:20:15.829 --> 00:20:18.625
Brash, I might go first this time, Alright.

00:20:18.625 --> 00:20:30.134
So this time my question for you is there was a major character and subplot that was almost entirely cut from the final film of Jersey Girl.

00:20:30.134 --> 00:20:34.592
Do you know who that character or actor was?

00:20:34.592 --> 00:20:42.111
They only appear briefly in this movie, at the start and through the middle, but they did have a bigger part to play.

00:20:42.291 --> 00:20:43.292
Not Jason Briggs was it.

00:20:43.534 --> 00:20:44.194
It was Jason Briggs.

00:20:44.194 --> 00:20:46.227
Yeah, the co-worker played by Jason Briggs.

00:20:46.227 --> 00:20:48.387
He was the comic foil.

00:20:49.402 --> 00:20:52.912
Yeah, I thought that he was meant to be a bigger part in this movie.

00:20:52.912 --> 00:21:01.967
Like he like because he was just in his life, then out of his life, then back in his life, yeah, he kind of I thought like he'd be like come visit him and shit like that, or something like that.

00:21:01.967 --> 00:21:03.208
Yeah, or stay friends.

00:21:03.228 --> 00:21:11.634
Yeah, yeah, I actually liked how he re-entered the movie where he said he's been waiting years For a chance to help him out.

00:21:11.854 --> 00:21:13.394
Yeah, I thought that was very sweet.

00:21:13.435 --> 00:21:15.416
I thought that was a really good way to re-enter him.

00:21:15.416 --> 00:21:23.268
So I didn't feel like his character was just there, because that was pulled on the heartstrings for me.

00:21:23.268 --> 00:21:35.740
But it does say that Smith felt that the tone was too inconsistent for Briggs' character because he played almost the comic foil to Affleck's character and provided levity in the film in the heavier moments and he wanted to do something heartfelt.

00:21:35.740 --> 00:21:37.042
So it didn't really fit the tone.

00:21:37.042 --> 00:21:42.248
And because of that inconsistently, a lot of his scenes were cut from the theatrical release.

00:21:42.248 --> 00:21:46.928
But you can see them on the deleted scenes of DVD extras if you want to as well.

00:21:46.980 --> 00:21:56.079
But Jason Biggs, obviously famous for playing Jim in American Pie and I think this was actually during the time when American Pie was coming out, wasn't it Because this is 2004.

00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:57.365
Yeah, 2004.

00:21:57.365 --> 00:21:59.548
And American Pie was pretty much around the same time.

00:21:59.548 --> 00:22:03.423
So he did have that tag along with him as well to be this comedic comic relief kind of character.

00:22:03.423 --> 00:22:06.009
So he did have that tag along with him as well to be this comedic comic relief kind of character.

00:22:06.009 --> 00:22:07.231
So he was cut completely, all right.

00:22:07.231 --> 00:22:07.874
So that's one point.

00:22:07.874 --> 00:22:09.277
Your go, brash, my go.

00:22:09.940 --> 00:22:33.511
So in the movie, when Ben Affleck's character, olly and Gertie are talking about the play that she wants to do for the school play, she talks about cats and then, of course, because cats are no longer around best, when you're Todd and Ben Affleck says, oh, are you sure it's a musical, and he's like.

00:22:33.511 --> 00:22:41.625
I remember once losing a bet and having to go see a show, a musical, where they were all on roller skates.

00:22:41.625 --> 00:22:42.568
It was terrible.

00:22:42.568 --> 00:22:44.507
I had a terrible time, do you remember?

00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:49.643
or do you know what musical they were talking about?

00:22:49.643 --> 00:22:52.147
A musical on roller skates, on roller skates.

00:22:52.147 --> 00:22:53.009
I have no idea.

00:22:53.009 --> 00:22:53.671
Very famous one.

00:22:54.152 --> 00:22:54.352
Is it?

00:22:54.352 --> 00:22:55.074
Is it Rent?

00:22:55.074 --> 00:22:58.088
It's not Rent Is it Hair.

00:22:58.088 --> 00:23:00.964
No, it's not Hair.

00:23:00.964 --> 00:23:04.250
It's written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, very famous.

00:23:04.250 --> 00:23:06.326
Is it Starlight Express?

00:23:06.326 --> 00:23:11.329
It is Starlight Express, yes, about train, about a.

00:23:11.329 --> 00:23:11.770
It's similar.

00:23:11.770 --> 00:23:12.573
It's very.

00:23:12.573 --> 00:23:29.465
For me it sort of seems like a very similar vein of what Cars 3 is, so an old-style locomotive wants to try and test his mettle against the newer, upgraded locomotives, and it's about his journey on being a faster and better train than the new ones.

00:23:29.766 --> 00:23:37.951
This would appeal to lots of different audiences, especially amongst those children who absolutely love trains, like Thomas the Tank Engine.

00:23:39.813 --> 00:23:43.736
I have a friend in high school who absolutely loves trains.

00:23:43.736 --> 00:23:49.330
We used to call him just train boy because he was just just obsessed with trains.

00:23:49.330 --> 00:23:51.619
Like he actually ended up when he went to Union Melbourne.

00:23:51.619 --> 00:23:57.153
He'd go to the place where they have like the, where they like take kids and that for rides on their trains.

00:23:57.153 --> 00:24:01.160
He used to go to that and he used to drive the trains for the kids and everything around them.

00:24:01.160 --> 00:24:01.921
Yeah, it was really good.

00:24:02.300 --> 00:24:02.780
Very cool.

00:24:03.040 --> 00:24:04.221
Very, very, very into it.

00:24:04.221 --> 00:24:07.442
Lovely, no, but I'm pretty sure.

00:24:07.442 --> 00:24:10.064
Yeah, he is the composer, andrew Lloyd Webber.

00:24:10.064 --> 00:24:12.224
Andrew Lloyd Webber for Phantom of the Opera.

00:24:12.224 --> 00:24:15.726
He is, yes, and Jesus Christ of the Star and School of Rock.

00:24:15.726 --> 00:24:17.886
You are correct it was Starlight Express.

00:24:18.547 --> 00:24:21.428
Okay, my next question.

00:24:21.428 --> 00:24:28.770
As we've discussed, the opinion of people over the film Jersey Girl has changed over time.

00:24:28.770 --> 00:24:35.153
Most notably, kevin Smith has some personal regrets based on Jersey Girl.

00:24:35.153 --> 00:24:40.695
Do you know what one of the biggest regrets he has regarding this movie?

00:24:40.695 --> 00:24:41.796
Busting Jennifer Lopez.

00:24:41.796 --> 00:24:44.997
It has something to do with Jennifer Lopez, but that is not correct.

00:24:45.217 --> 00:24:48.038
That's probably my own personal thing, so I'm not a big Jennifer Lopez fan.

00:24:48.538 --> 00:25:13.108
But okay, because of the drama between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, mm-hmm, he did something because of that, all of the stuff that was happening with Ben Affleck and Jennifer the time he did something to his movie to try and accommodate for public backlash you know, is it to make him seem like they're all good when they weren't?

00:25:13.810 --> 00:25:21.923
no, so basically he had, I don't know I don't know what the drama is between jennifer lopez and benefit, because I just didn't give a shit yeah, yeah, no.

00:25:22.464 --> 00:25:33.134
Um, basically he made the movie about 30 minutes longer and it had footage of about 30 minutes explaining the relationship between Ollie and Gertrude.

00:25:33.134 --> 00:25:43.846
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's character and it provided more emotional weight when she actually passed and then also the connection that Ollie had with her as to why he loved her so much.

00:25:43.846 --> 00:25:51.496
So that sort of grounding, emotional scenes between Gertrude and Ollie helped explain his grief later on.

00:25:51.496 --> 00:25:57.553
So Smith has said that he cut that because of the backlash everybody was having towards Jennifer.

00:25:57.593 --> 00:25:58.054
Lopez.

00:25:58.661 --> 00:26:01.210
And it really compromised the emotional weight of the film.

00:26:01.210 --> 00:26:11.948
And he says, if he was a more seasoned director and if he was somebody who was also, he felt very vulnerable because he was putting forward a very personal story and he wanted it to really work well.

00:26:11.948 --> 00:26:20.962
So he listened to that backlash and cut parts of the movie out based on public opinion, instead of going by what his artistic vision was.

00:26:20.962 --> 00:26:26.509
And he regrets that now and he uses it as a learning experience in his career today.

00:26:26.509 --> 00:26:28.462
All right, you're good my go.

00:26:29.384 --> 00:26:41.736
So kevin smith named the main character of ollie, who's played by ben affleck, because of work he was doing just before making this movie.

00:26:41.736 --> 00:26:45.685
Do you know the character that ben affleck's character is based off of?

00:26:46.107 --> 00:26:48.161
Well, the name yes, I do so.

00:26:48.161 --> 00:26:54.804
He is named Ollie, which is named on Oliver Queen, which is Green Arrow, and I think he did that because he was writing some.

00:26:55.019 --> 00:26:57.385
He was writing Green Arrow just before that.

00:26:57.385 --> 00:27:06.386
Yes, because Green Arrow is one of my Well, my top, equal, top favorite DC character character.

00:27:06.386 --> 00:27:08.380
So I've got green arrow and night waiting.

00:27:08.380 --> 00:27:11.503
They're my two favorite dc characters, both of which don't have powers.

00:27:12.565 --> 00:27:12.986
Very good.

00:27:12.986 --> 00:27:17.648
Kevin Smith is famous for writing Marvel Mites as well.

00:27:17.648 --> 00:27:26.013
With Joe Quesada he's done heaps of Spider-Man and Black Cat stuff and he's also done a bunch of Daredevil when he worked for Marvel.

00:27:26.013 --> 00:27:40.002
He's also a frequent DC comic book writer as well, and currently in this day and age, in 2025, he's writing Archie comics comics and most specifically, archie meets Jay and Silent Bob.

00:27:40.002 --> 00:27:46.833
So very big in the comic scene, kevin Smith, and I think he's even got a podcast where he talks about that kind of thing as well.

00:27:46.833 --> 00:27:47.615
He very much so does.

00:27:47.615 --> 00:27:52.771
Yes, yeah, all right, all right, point for the pill, my turn, okay.

00:27:52.771 --> 00:28:06.138
So this movie had a very different ending than what was portrayed on screen, and a very famous musician was meant to appear in the film but ended up declining due to scheduling conflicts.

00:28:06.138 --> 00:28:08.833
Do you know who that musician was?

00:28:08.833 --> 00:28:14.730
And your clue is they have a very strong connection to New Jersey and Kevin Smith is a big fan.

00:28:15.951 --> 00:28:19.330
I know at one point Bruce Willis was meant to be in the role of.

00:28:19.330 --> 00:28:25.212
Will Smith yeah, that's correct, they didn't, but I don't.

00:28:25.212 --> 00:28:26.714
That's what.

00:28:26.714 --> 00:28:30.164
When you said, oh, there's someone else meant to be in the thing, I'm like cool, is it the Bruce Willis one?

00:28:30.164 --> 00:28:38.496
But no, no, it's a musician that I have no idea who it is, who's who is a New Jersey.

00:28:38.846 --> 00:28:43.953
One of his songs features in the soundtrack and he has a nickname known as the Boss.

00:28:44.445 --> 00:28:51.769
Oh, fuck, yeah, jeans, red fucking scarf hanging out of the back of it, fucking Bruce.

00:28:51.789 --> 00:28:52.192
Springsteen.

00:28:52.192 --> 00:28:53.650
Yes, it is.

00:28:53.650 --> 00:29:15.000
Bruce Springsteen was meant to have a cameo in this movie because the climax instead of Ollie going and having an interview in his old job position, he was actually supposed to be going to a Bruce Springsteen concert in order to connect with some people there to potentially have a new job connection, and Bruce Springsteen was supposed to cameo.

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:25.556
He declined due to scheduling conflicts and he still allowed Kevin Smith to use imagery and music for his cinematic feature.

00:29:25.556 --> 00:29:36.830
So we almost had Bruce Springsteen in this movie but we didn't end up doing it and the end of the movie was subsequently changed and I think the end of the movie works a little bit better because it actually defines the choice that Ollie had to make.

00:29:42.365 --> 00:29:43.548
You know, he's not going to this recreational concert.

00:29:43.548 --> 00:29:52.603
He's actually this lifelong dream that he's had to be a music producer or a PR agent, where he's worrying about how everybody else thinks of particular music artists and the position that he has in this position of power.

00:29:52.603 --> 00:29:54.769
He's worried about all the different things that are happening there.

00:29:54.769 --> 00:30:06.732
He actually has to make a conscious choice to turn and pivot away from that and move further into fatherhood, and he did so through his conversation with Will Smith, noting that he is just a guy who wants to play in the mud with his kids.

00:30:06.732 --> 00:30:11.161
So I think that the ending worked a little bit better than what was originally planned.

00:30:11.161 --> 00:30:15.352
So unfortunate that Bruce Springsteen wasn't in the movie, but also fortunate for the storytelling purposes.

00:30:15.352 --> 00:30:20.953
Alright, that is a point to the Kitty Brash, it is your go.

00:30:20.973 --> 00:30:29.971
Okay, this one might be a little bit hard because it's going to test how closely you're watching, like looking at a particular scene.

00:30:29.971 --> 00:30:41.196
But in the video store you see four videos that actually star both Ben Affleck and Liv Taylor.

00:30:41.196 --> 00:30:42.951
Can you name what those movies are?

00:30:43.904 --> 00:30:44.366
Well, I know that.

00:30:44.366 --> 00:30:48.394
Ben Affleck and Liv Taylor, well, there's not the ones where they're effectively in together.

00:30:49.807 --> 00:30:55.971
They're just movies that they were in Right and I say, if you get two out of the four, Well was it Chasing Amy?

00:30:55.991 --> 00:30:56.232
Chasing Amy?

00:30:56.232 --> 00:30:56.816
No, it wasn't.

00:30:56.816 --> 00:30:57.377
Ch Well, was it Chasing Amy?

00:30:57.377 --> 00:30:57.638
Chasing Amy?

00:30:57.638 --> 00:30:58.201
No, it wasn't Chasing Amy.

00:30:58.201 --> 00:31:00.048
Wasn't Chasing Amy?

00:31:00.048 --> 00:31:01.605
Oh, Good Will Hunting, yeah.

00:31:01.605 --> 00:31:05.056
Also written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

00:31:06.125 --> 00:31:20.174
And he actually in the movie Ollie is standing right next to another movie that he is in A very poetic movie Stars Geoffrey Rush and Gwyneth Paltrow.

00:31:20.605 --> 00:31:21.669
Oh, shakespeare in Love.

00:31:21.669 --> 00:31:23.013
Shakespeare in Love.

00:31:23.013 --> 00:31:25.991
Yes, he only plays a small part in that one, I believe.

00:31:25.991 --> 00:31:29.674
I mean, yeah, he plays Ned Allen in that one, or Ned Allen?

00:31:30.565 --> 00:31:32.071
That was one of the other niche ones.

00:31:32.071 --> 00:31:33.388
There is one he was standing like.

00:31:33.388 --> 00:31:34.894
He stands right next to.

00:31:35.285 --> 00:31:56.032
I'll just tell you some of the Liv Tyler movies lord of the rings one, two and three stealing beauty dealing beauty where she is predominantly on the cover of that yeah yeah yeah, stealing beauty that one also stars jeremy irons in it as well yeah, and that's.

00:31:56.032 --> 00:31:58.757
That's a bit of a mature film.

00:31:58.757 --> 00:32:00.259
You might say Yep.

00:32:01.045 --> 00:32:03.071
It's even got Rachel Weisz in it too.

00:32:03.071 --> 00:32:06.652
Yeah, yeah, but yes.

00:32:06.652 --> 00:32:12.272
So Stealing Beauty, Good Will, Hunting Phantoms was another one that was in the VR store as well.

00:32:12.272 --> 00:32:16.909
Yeah, yeah, phantoms was a video that you could see in the VR store when they were looking around at all the videos.

00:32:17.130 --> 00:32:18.493
That's one of Ben Affleck's first roles.

00:32:18.914 --> 00:32:26.212
Yep, so they had a bit of placement there for some of the movies that they were in, yeah, which I thought, which I expected to see more.

00:32:26.212 --> 00:32:30.792
I thought I'd see a lot more of their films, just like placed around that video store.

00:32:31.025 --> 00:32:36.673
Yeah, especially with Kevin Smith's like attitude towards situational comedy.

00:32:36.673 --> 00:32:37.094
Like that.

00:32:37.094 --> 00:32:38.286
I would have thought the same.

00:32:38.286 --> 00:32:52.928
And also I also liked in the movie when they're going to pick out a movie to rent and then Gertie picks up Men in Black like Will Smith, yeah, and Ben Affleck's character, ollie, says anything but that she always wants to rent out Dirty Dancing.

00:32:52.928 --> 00:33:06.333
So I also loved seeing in this movie the the hearkening back to when we used to go to the video stores all the time and also not to be crass or anything like that but when pornography films used to be on VHS tape in the back of video stores.

00:33:06.505 --> 00:33:11.074
Never went into those areas Never went into those areas, but I always wondered what was there.

00:33:11.074 --> 00:33:14.250
It's just crazy to see how times have changed.

00:33:14.250 --> 00:33:22.214
It's like a little time capsule, and that was in like 2004 as well, so that was only about, you know, 21 years ago.

00:33:25.094 --> 00:33:27.324
Even that sort of scene has changed.

00:33:27.324 --> 00:33:30.185
They're all like sort of old 90s films.

00:33:30.185 --> 00:33:39.817
Yeah, so like 1998 for Shakespeare in Love, 1997 for Good Will Hunting, 1998 for Phantoms and then 1996, I think it was for Stealing Beauty.

00:33:39.817 --> 00:33:50.685
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so early 90s films, or mid-90s films or mid-90s films, yeah, which fit the time, because that's the time periods that they were in at the age of 90s yeah.

00:33:50.987 --> 00:33:51.567
Exactly right.

00:33:51.567 --> 00:33:54.650
I don't think I get that one because I took too many clues.

00:33:54.650 --> 00:34:07.339
So for this week's Fandom Fact Face-Off, together we got four points, which is definitely above average, which is great, which means that we have 13 points total, meaning we need 12 more to go until this giveaway activates.

00:34:07.339 --> 00:34:18.226
Remember, if you wanted to be a part of the giveaway, join our mailing list, which is at wwwfandomportalspodcastcom, and you can also find us on all our social medias, so you can come and check us out there too.

00:34:18.226 --> 00:34:20.710
All right, let's get into our Set Secrets segment.

00:34:22.996 --> 00:34:32.034
Set Secrets is where hosts look behind the scenes and focus on the movie to give you all the information on what went right, what went wrong and what was interesting about the way the movie was made.

00:34:32.034 --> 00:34:35.851
A couple of things I want to talk about in this segment, brash.

00:34:35.851 --> 00:34:45.813
One, of course, is the impact that Bennifer had on this movie, and the other is Kevin Smith's changing attitude towards this movie as time has gone on.

00:34:45.813 --> 00:34:52.255
I know you're an absolute fan of everything to do with celebrities, so why don't you give us all the information you have on Bennifer?

00:34:53.224 --> 00:34:56.829
Okay so when it comes to Bennifer, I'm absolutely joking.

00:34:56.829 --> 00:35:07.032
Listeners of the Bennet Porter's podcast Rash staunchly doesn't really care do not care for every bullshit their personal life is their personal life.

00:35:07.125 --> 00:35:09.088
I don't give a shit about it and you know what?

00:35:09.088 --> 00:35:20.050
I think Kevin Smith, ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez wished that everybody had the opinion that you had, because the Bennifer craze was a media oversaturation that happened in the early 2000s.

00:35:20.050 --> 00:35:30.057
It resulted in both of those actors, jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, having their lives basically in the spotlight all the time from the paparazzi.

00:35:30.057 --> 00:35:42.885
It resulted in poor film choices from both actors, especially Ben Affleck, whose career took a nosedive during that time, especially for the movie that was Jiggly, which is a 2003 movie.

00:35:42.885 --> 00:35:58.472
That was an enormous critical box office failure and it was really panned for its bad writing and the awkward chemistry between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, which you wouldn't think would be the case, because if they're a couple in real life, the chemistry should be natural on set.

00:35:58.905 --> 00:36:20.516
We've seen that happen lots and lots of times as well, but it became a particular sort of punchline, you might say, which led people to think that, you know, people were prioritizing fame over the quality of work, and we've seen that happen as well, where somebody is cast in a role because they're famous or they think they could sell the movie more so than if they were actually a fitting part for the role.

00:36:20.516 --> 00:36:29.237
So Gigli was an absolute bust and the tabloid overload you might say between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez relationship became.

00:36:29.237 --> 00:36:31.934
It was literally the obsession of the 2000s.

00:36:31.934 --> 00:36:39.840
They were probably one of the first people that actually had a couple nickname and that's been a trend that's gone on forever and ever, whether we like it or not.

00:36:39.840 --> 00:36:44.297
They were doing everything together, including the music video jenny from the block.

00:36:44.297 --> 00:36:45.101
Do you remember that song?

00:36:45.121 --> 00:36:52.724
brash, jenny from the block yeah it was at every 2000 disco that you ever went to and it was an earworm for the longest time as well.

00:36:52.724 --> 00:36:58.677
Yeah, yeah, it was basically turning admiration into like a mockery.

00:36:58.677 --> 00:36:59.766
They were just everywhere.

00:36:59.766 --> 00:37:02.894