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It would seem that Kevin Smith's entire oeuvre is too limited to bother creating a "filmography" as i have for other filmmakers, but i think his output is worth a second look.
As an actor-producer-writer-director, Smith is one of the most interesting and successful young hyphenates in the film industry, with a range of control over his modest projects enjoyed by only a handful of filmmakers. Also, continually making short films and writing animation for tv, writing superhero screenplays for hollywood studios, acting in non-Smith projects, producing non-Smith films, writing comics and running his comicbook store, he's actually been pretty productive over the last 12 years.
Smith is a young, working-class, Catholic slacker from New Jersey... a film-school dropout, but well-schooled in pop culture.
As a filmmaker, Smith is more of a writer than a director. His films are visually uninteresting and tend to be composed in the most simplistic ways possible. His strength is in conceiving unique characters and having them speak in a distinctive (if highly stylized) form. Some criticize him for "overwriting", but if he didn't, he'd be of little interest.
His comedic milieu combines the world of comic books, outragous sexuality, and a questioning kind of christianity. His characters are seekers of one type or another, either sexually repressed or total hedonists; and they all speak in a similarly clever, wordy, showy patois, referencing and sub-referencing pop culture like Dennis Miller clones (before Miller went insane after 9/11). His plots (such as they are) tend to be episodic, without much structure, that allow the characters to inhabit his unique world.
And Smith has indeed created a world. He not only uses a consistent ensemble of actors, he has created continuing characters like Jay & Silent Bob, and he references other of his characters in a number of his films. Smith uses his stories much as a comic book writer does... to create his own universe populated by characters that cross over into each other's stories. The crossovers are further supported by his work in other media, as well. (tv shorts, cartoons, comics, etc). It is the world of VIEW ASKEW... not only his production company, but a description of his world view.
His gestalt approach to storytelling has won him a hardcore following but,
needless to say, he's not for everybody. His films:
As producer / actor / writer / director:
Clerks (1994) - 2 guys talking in a convenience store. Stuff happens. Funny, original breakthru film.
Mallrats (1995) - unsuccessful studio followup, its pretty wacky, and is highly appreciated among Smith cultists.
Chasing Amy (1997) - Probably his best movie to date, it comes closest to having an emotional center, where real things happen to real people. One of the best films about the comicbook industry (for those interested in that sort of thing).
Dogma (1999) - This very religous film was, ironically, savaged by certain Christian groups, giving it the kind of hype that made it a hit. I don't think its quite as good as AMY, but many would disagree. It is certainly, however, his most cinematic and visual film to date.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) - Smith takes his most popular supporting characters and gives them a wacky road movie, satirizing movies and anything else Smith could think of. I think its kind of lame, actually, and Jay and Bob are best in small doses.
Jersey Girl (2004) - after settling down with wife and child, this was Smith's attempt to make a grownup movie about a family man. It got blown to hell by the JLo-Affleck media explosion. Its a fairly middling picture, and ones enjoyment of it is directly related to ones tolerance for Ben Affleck. Most cultists hate it, since its "outside of continuity". Its also the only one that Smith doesn't appear in.
Clerks II (2006) - Smith catches us up on his original characters 12 years later, and his progress as a filmmaker is notable. It might seem strange to talk about maturity in a film depicting a "Donkey Show", but that's Smith's gift. And Rosario Dawson is rarely a bad idea. This joins CHASING AMY and DOGMA as one of his better films.
There is also available a 3-hour "concert film", if you will, of Smith talking to a college audience. He is hilarious in recounting his adventures in Hollywood and behind-the-scenes anecdotes. Despite its length, and despite the fact that its just a show of Smith standing and talking, it's a surprisingly watchable and funny film, well worth checking out.
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