Kevin Smith - The Man, The Bob, The Legend
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
In Hollywood today, there are three classifications of director: there's the big-box office blockbuster director(Spielberg, Wachowski etc.); there's the cult arthouse director(David Lynch, Alan Parker); and there's the the enjoyable independant director(too many to list here). And then there's Kevin Smith. Carving a career, first in indie flicks, then moving to the Big Time, that only started in 1994, Kevin Smith's unique brand of comedy and witty exuberance in all his films has earned him the respect of many of his peers, as well as the adoration of fans around the world. Smith first burst onto the indie scene in 1994, writing, directing and co-starring in the film "Clerks", a quirky comedy about two guys who work in dead-end jobs as clerks in New Jersey. The film became an enourmous independant success, and Smith became the new-wave "reality" director, who's films dealt with unbelievable-but-happened-to-a-friend-of-mine issues(mostly sex). He has since made three other films so far- "Mallrats", "Chasing Amy" and the big budget fantasy "Dogma"- and all of them have been box-office hits(with the exception of Mallrats- despite the target audience-teens to young adults- loving it, it was a box-office flop). One notable quality about Smith's films is all the main characters have a propensity for swearing a lot- something which has become a bit of a Smith trademark. A definite Smith Trademark is Jay and Silent Bob, played by Jason Mewes(Jay), and Smith(Silent Bob). Two drug dealers who have appeared in all of Smith' films to date, the two have been subject to their own cult following, and the sheer likeability of the characters testifies why. Smith has currently started production on his fifth film, this time pitching Jay and Silent Bob as the stars. It's obvious that this could be Smith's biggest film to date.
