Liv Tyler is a very particular talent who has sometimes been misused by directors more in love with her beauty than with her appropriateness for their story. Here she is perfectly cast.
Smith is looking more and more like a developing major talent, so it could be years until we get a handle on this movie's legacy. The film is not only defensible as a cute one-shot, but also as a positive sign for the future.
This is Kevin Smith at his emotional best. The movie is sad, touching, entertaining, very well acted and over all, surprisingly good. Yes, it's cheesy and predictable, but it doesn't change the fact that it truly is a great movie.
If Affleck stumbles, Smith's script does nothing to catch his fall. Surprisingly, Smith's truest talent – that of writing – is Jersey Girl's weakest link.
The nadir of the movie -- or cheesy zenith -- is Ollie's sodden soliloquy, delivered in the presence of his baby, in which he laments the loss of her mother and his wife. All that's missing are the strains of Ravel's "Pavane For a Dead Princess."
Overall all not really a good or bad movie kind of meh. It does have a heart and is very nice overall but I feel like Ben Affleck may have been the wrong choice for his role.