Jay and Silent Bob light up Hollywood

Jay and Silent Bob, the ever-present stoners from Kevin Smith's four New Jersey films, are back and in fine form in Smith's fifth film, "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." \nWhen Jay and Silent Bob find out they are not getting royalties from the movie "Bluntman and Chronic," based on a comic book they inspired, the pair set out for Hollywood to stop the film's production. Along the way they hook up with a foursome of diamond-stealing girls, a nun, Scooby-Doo and the Gang and an orangutan named Suzanne (you'll remember her from the last scene of "Mallrats"). Many old characters return, including Dante, Randal, Holden, Brodie and Banky (Jason Lee in a double role). It's got the feel of the last episode of "Seinfeld," and will certainly be funnier if you've seen the previous four movies.\nKevin Smith has taken the saying "Half the fun of the trip is getting there" to the extreme, as some scenes have no bearing on the film's outcome, but are just fun. The film doesn't deal with relationships, homosexuality or religion, or any other topic from the previous films. Instead, it focuses on being fun from the first scene to the last. It pays homage to the series' characters, mocks Hollywood and gives Jay and Silent Bob a forum for their comic skills. Fans of the duo will get their fill of "nooch," "snoogins" and "fatty-boom-batty blunts" -- something they haven't gotten since "Mallrats." \n"Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" is the final chapter for Jay and Silent Bob, as Smith is retiring the characters. Jay was out of control in "Clerks," but has been tamed (relatively speaking) since then. But Smith held nothing back in writing Jay's lines this time around, as he let Jason Mewes go to the ceiling with his alter ego. Almost every word out of Mewes' mouth is dirty, and we even see in the first scene that his mother was no speech saint herself. \nThe movie can be shocking at times, but not to anyone who knows and loves Smith's work. The reintroduction of old characters, especially Dante and Randal from "Clerks," receives loud cheers and applause from the audience. And each joke from a previous film is treated like a favorite uncle you haven't seen in a while. That is one of the beauties of the film: the more you like Smith, the more you like this movie.