Silent Bob finally talks

Without Kevin Smith, "Catch and Release" would have just been romantic without the comedy. "Catch" is the story of Gray Wheeler (Jennifer Garner) putting her life back together after the sudden death of her fiancé. Co-starring Kevin Smith as the best friend and Juliette Lewis as the kooky ex, the movie has a formula for success.\nAfter Grady's death, Gray begins learning about secrets from his past, including a 4-year-old kid he's been supporting. After the money stops because of Grady's death, the mother of the child (Lewis) crashes Gray's life and sets up shop in a hotel close to Gray's house. She begins coming over and we learn about her quirky behavior and her kid's desire to destroy almost everything. Among all this chaos, Gray begins falling for Fritz, the sleazy guy from the funeral.\nPerhaps the best part of this movie is the emotional development of the characters. I left the movie caring about Gray and the adorable kid as well. Smith provides some much needed comic relief (90 percent of the laughs come from him), but I can't tell if it's because he is a talented actor or because he is so ludicrously casted. It's probably more of the latter, but I was impressed to see Silent Bob so animated.\nThe movie has some genuinely funny moments in (see Sam trying to teach a kid how to fish) and can elicit an emotional response from the audience (see Sam give the kid his father's fishing hat before they go fishing). However, there are also many parts of the film that drag on and I was bored as much as I was truly laughing. The movie could have easily been 25 minutes shorter.\nAll told, the movie is not as bad I thought it would be. As far as romantic comedies go, this one is pretty typical and follows the same formula. I guess the formula (you know, the girl gets heart broken, seeks out an at-first unimpressive love interest but then we learn to love him and they live happily ever after) works and is in place for a reason.\nJennifer Garner is as beautiful as ever and lights up the screen whenever she is on it. Garner carries the movie, and watching Smith is, if anything, interesting.