An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder (2006)

Best movie of this year hands down!

hyped garbage

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Kevin Smith. When you hear that name, you think of Jay and Slient Bob, Dante and Randall, Holden and Alissa, Mooby's and the Quik Stop.With Evening Harder, you're not disappointed. Smith takes us on a roller-coaster ride of sexual innuendos, rapid-fire wisecracks, and riffs on Tim Horton's, writer's block, and organized religion.Guest shots by Jason Mewes, a special delivery of Timbits from an audience member, and Smith's take on how *he* would have written the Passion of the Christ round out just *one* disc of pure Kevin Smith gold.Parents beware: this is *not* for the kids, nor is it for anyone that can't stomach a good solid dig at religion.

When I first saw pieces of An Evening with Kevin Smith, I could not stop watching. It was just too funny for words, and just so engrossing that the obnoxiously long running time did not seem like too much of an issue. Of course, I never did manage to watch it start to finish, but all of the parts I watched made me want to. So at Christmas time, knowing full well that a follow-up disc had been released, I acquired both DVDs. But instead of watching and finishing off the first one, I sat down and watched all of the second film, An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder. And like many other people, I was pretty disappointed.Whereas the original film was more of a compilation of "best of" clips from various college Q&A visits Smith had made all over the United States, the second film is two full visits he made abroad with no edits or cuts. The first disc encompasses a visit to Toronto, and the second to London. Smith entertains the audience with plenty of stories, and he answers many questions that just about any other film director would shy away from. Woody Allen this man is not.I think the reason this film does not work on the same level as the first film is the fact that it is just two of his appearances as opposed to a handful. The first was a compilation of all sorts of clips, and this just goes straight through both "concerts" from beginning to end. For that reason, it just does not hold up the same way. There are many boring lulls throughout, and at many times, Smith just goes totally off topic and rambles about the stupidest things. There is a whole ten-minute bit during the London appearance where he talks with two audience members about pick-up lines, and it is just awkward because we know he is trying to crack jokes, but he just is not spot-on. If the first film taught us anything, it is that Smith is great in small doses, because when he is on, he really is on. But this film proves the fact that he cannot stay on for an entire two-hour span.Instead, we are treated to interesting and intriguing stories few and far between. Yes, Smith talks throughout, but he just looks and sounds both lazy, and incredibly bored. Never is there a real sense that Smith desperately wants to be at either appearance. It just feels like he wants to answer a few questions, grab the cheque and take off. Very little of the conviction he had on the previous film, or even his interview and candid footage from his feature film DVDs is apparent on the stage here. He instead, has devotion for some of the material he talks about, and then quite literally, looks like he could care less at the more pointless stuff.An audience member asks him early on to give him some pointers about writing a screenplay, and asks if he in fact, will take a read at it. He then goes into a lengthy speech about how lazy he is when he writes scripts, and how he really does not want to read the guy's script because of that same laziness. It both felt heartbreaking and incredibly selfish from a director who really works as a result of the fan appreciation, and really made me rethink how great a director Smith really is. Parts like these show up a few times, and makes Smith look more like a pompous jerk than the hilarious and fan driven guy he really is (or comes off as).As for the stories themselves, as previously stated, they are interesting but few and far between. We are treated to stories about his wife's pictorial in Playboy, his newly found fatherhood and his fondness for Dora the Explorer. These three stand out in my mind as particularly funny stories, and unfortunately, there is a real lack of them on these two discs. The first film was practically overflowing with hilarious and memorable stories, and this one had me really scratching my head attempting to come up with some of the stories that he tells that were actually worthwhile.It is great to see Jason Mewes make an appearance at both venues and talk for a bit, but even he cannot save Smith from the boredom that sets in not too long after each concert starts. You can tell he is stretching things out here and there, and as said before, it just does not have anywhere near as much strength as the first film. This film just cannot stand up on its own, and unfortunately, is a disappointment. It may be a worthwhile look for people who really like Smith, but for everyone else, just stick with the first film.6/10.

J.M. Kenny's follow-up to the best-selling AN EVENING WITH KEVIN SMITH DVD, AN EVENING WITH KEVIN SMITH 2 feels very much like a sequel: repetitious and not nearly as good as the original. The specialness of the first 'Evening' is gone, this time Smith's antics on stage aren't as amusing, most of his stories, unengaged, and the audience a bit less than thrilled. There are some decent nuggets of information here and there, Smith's thoughts on the X-Men trilogy and other movies in general, showing Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back to his child, and dealing with writer's block, but the questions asked make one wonder what type of substances the audience members were under while watching the Q&A sessions. To be honest, I found myself fast-forwarding through a fair portion of the disc. Hardcore Smith fans be warned, this is the least entertaining of anything Smith has ever done.

As the Summary says: An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder (2006) is, in my opinion, Not as funny as the first one - but still very funny.I expected something like the first one, and i got it. And that is it.In An Evening with Kevin Smith 1 (AEWKS-1) there was a lot of funny stories from Hollywood, I.E. the Tim Burton, Jon Peters and Prince stories. Those kind of stories i missed in AEWKS-2 - there was a little about Prince, but that was it. Because the bit Kevin Smith did about Jon Peters was one of the funniest bits I've ever watched, i was kinda hopping for such things.But Thankfully Kevin Smith is also a good Stand-Up-Comedian. So there was a lot to compensate for my false hopes. I really loved his parody of Lord Of the Rings, though he had used it on am American Talk Show and Clerks 2. The whole part in England was the coolest bit - i like Canada also, but the British bit was just so much cooler. Especially when Smith had fun with that British Chick, who worked in a Comic-store..... that is every time Smith improvises, it is funny. He made fun of her accent - and i loved it, because he did in a very friendly way.But i still enjoyed it - long time.I gave the first An Evening with Kevin Smith 10/10.An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder will get 8/10. Because it is still very funny. The only things i didn't like, was that they used to much time on big stand-up-bits, instead of the more improvised things in AEWKS-1. There was too little Hollywood-gossip - but i guess it is because Smith is more political now, and wants to be friends with some in Hollywood, and therefore will not Bash any people, who he can possible work with in the future.8/10 - 'nuff said.Oh Yeah: Snooch To the Nooch.