The 4:30 Movie
Written and Directed by Kevin Smith
Starring Austin Zajur, Nicholas Cirillo, Reed Northrup, Siena Agudong
Runtime 1 hour 27 minutes
Rated R
In theaters September 13

by Shah!, Staff Writer

"Movies make life make sense."

(in my best Ray Liotta impression from Goodfellas) As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been a Kevin Smith fan. 

If you’re familiar with Kevin Smith, you’ll know that his films vary heavily in quality. As a massive Smith fan myself, I have to admit, I don’t love all of them — but I have such an immense respect and love for Smith as a filmmaker, artist, and storyteller. His debut feature Clerks is a cult classic and one of my all-time favorites. His films often deal with–to put it lightly–interesting human beings. They live incredibly mundane lives, they mostly hate the people they have to deal with, and they talk.. a lot. Even in Smith’s venture into comic books and screenwriting credits, his characters deal with somewhat relatable and grounded human dramas. He has written for iconic characters such as Spider-Man, Daredevil, Batman, and Green Arrow — and yet, his most well-known creations are still the black and white setting of Quick Stop Groceries in New Jersey, two 20-something-year old retail workers named Dante and Randal, and of course, the infamous loiterer and pothead duo Jay and Silent Bob.

Smith’s films mostly tread a thin line between what would later be called mumblecore and whatever the hell he wants to do that may or may not involve poop monsters. His willingness to go crazy in his movies despite the budget restraints and everyone around him saying “No.” isn’t all that surprising when you know his love for comic books. His View Askewniverse series is essentially his own Marvel or DC Universe, albeit less action-packed and more slice-of-life with the occasional biblical element (see: Dogma). This latest picture, The 4:30 Movie, is Kevin Smith stripping off all of the higher fantastical concepts and going back to his Linklater-esque roots. It’s a semi-autobiography coming of age comedy with an entirely new cast (and some familiar faces) set in a nostalgia-filled past. Leaving behind his Miramax era, it seems like Kevin Smith is dipping his toes in new territories with Saban Films, and the inclusion of incredible music composer Bear McCreary in the mix crafting a uniquely nostalgic sound for the film. To simply put it, The 4:30 Movie is Kevin Smith’s smaller slacker indie version of The Fabelmans.

High schooler Brian David (Austin Zajur) is essentially a fictionalized version of Kevin Smith. Starring alongside Zajur are Nicholas Cirillo, Reed Northrup, and Siena Agudong as his two best friends and love interest respectively. The entire film revolves around the kids going to the movie theater and watching movies. That’s it. It’s as simple as it sounds and yet, the stakes are high as they’re trying to sneak into R-rated movies, and the theater owner — hilariously played by the great Ken Jeong, is an unhinged egotistical businessman who’d do anything to keep his movie theater as perfect as possible (to him, at least). The 80-minute runtime is spent mostly in the movie theater as the kids go back and forth in this silly cat-and-mouse game. While the concept is adorable on paper, I felt the writing is a little undercooked.

Unlike most of Kevin Smith’s modern endeavors, the visuals shine brightly here with the 80s aesthetic on display tastefully, but the character arcs needed some work. The crude humor is expected, and it’s always a joy to watch the usual suspects make an appearance in these Kevin Smith joints (Rosario Dawson, Jason Lee, Jason Biggs, Jeff Anderson (!!), Brian O’Halloran, Jason Mewes), but the actual heart of the story could’ve used more focus. At times, it was struggling to decide whether it wants to be heartfelt and serious or lean more into dick and fart jokes. BUT — I did appreciate plenty of the jokes, especially Justin Long as a moviegoer named Stank in one hysterical scene and Sam Richardson as the hypermasculine wrestler ‘Major Murder’.

 “You sure do know a lot about movies.”

In the middle of this slacker coming-of-age comedy is a touching love story. The love interest, Melody (Siena Agudong), brings a sincerity that I adored with her and Brian — it’s truly a “first love” experience if I ever saw one that Kevin Smith captured perfectly. Our protagonist Brian likes her for who she is, it’s not solely about looks or trying to prove something to other people, he really appreciates her company. The entire film hinges on this and I think, for the most part, it did a decent job showing this young love story, even if it’s a bit rushed at times. The color grading and style capture a specific look that not only serves as a lens through the era of the 1980s, but it also feels right that we’re looking through these rose-colored glasses at this specific time in Kevin Smith’s life. We’ve all been teenagers, we’ve had first loves, and we’ve been rebellious, and the film captured the essence of adolescence.

"We're filmmakers. We just haven't made our films yet."

As mentioned before, I do believe the writing holds it back from being a truly incredible movie. Nonetheless, if Kevin Smith makes more of these, it’s a step in the right direction. While it’s not like his 90s contemporaries and is honestly closer to a (passionate and ambitious) B-movie, it does have that same level of love and admiration for the little guys. It’s Kevin Smith calling back to home and finding his old voice again. After making a few cult classics, writing comic books, directing some television, and having a heart attack that scared the hell out of everyone, I’m glad to see Smith still standing and making something—even if it’s mostly for himself and his friends. Whatever he does next, I do hope it’s more in line with this film and Clerks 3, which I thought was a solid flick as well. Does it feel a bit self-indulgent at times? Absolutely, but that’s just Kevin Smith.