Madness in the Method (2019)
Director: Jason Mewes
Writer (s): Dominic Burns, Chris Anastasi
Starring: Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Gina Carano
Despite being introduced to the character in Kevin Smith’s Clerks back in 1994, it is always going to be difficult to see Jason Mews as anything else other than the foul-mouthed Jay from the comedy duo Jay and Silent Bob. And with yet another film Jay and Silent Bob Reboot due for release in 2019, it seems that people still want to see more of the character along with his quiet heterosexual sidekick Silent Bob (Kevin Smith). It is therefore no surprise that Jason has often been typecast over the years for similar roles and that is where Madness in the Method takes full advantage of this predicament.
Growing frustrated of being typecast and offered the same familiar roles Jason Mewes (as himself) follows the advice of his friend and collaborator Kevin Smith (as himself) to track down a copy of the self-help book ‘Rob Weston’s Guide to Method Acting’. A rare book which is held by esteemed actor Fernando Villarreal (Jaime Camil). Taking the advice of the book has disastrous consequences which leads to the accidental death of a director, but when the publicity starts to work in his favour it looks as though bad news is good news for his career. As he continues through the book, the opportunities roll in and the body count continues to rise, but with dream leading role in the next Hollywood film The Odyssey by Clerks co-star Brian OHalloran (as himself) he has to keep going, because when in comes to acting there is Madness in the Method .
The film itself is primarily a comedy, but as the violence gradually escalates throughout the film it definitely moves into horror territory. Jason playing the title character is a mixture between himself and his alto ego, even though as Kevin Smith confirms, the character does begin to merge as Jay was initially based on some Jason traits.
There are some autobiographical elements at the start of the film which deals with Jason’s upbringing, collaborating with Kevin smith and his ongoing issues with drugs. It creates a surprisingly honest profile of Jason as a backdrop before crossing over events into a fictional world which he look to parody.
The comedy in the film is a bit of a mixed bag and for me there is an uncertainty as to what it wants to be. Parts of the film feel as though it is a direct homage to Keven Smith, with the constant references relating to the character of Jay and the various celebrity guests that appear throughout the film. However, there is also a contrasting British humour which has a very different in tone. This change of humour is maybe not too surprising as it was written by Brits Chris Anastasi and Dominic Burns. When the comedy works it is really funny, Fans of Jay will love the references and some of the surreal Pythonesque style dream sequences are really well done and shows a different side of Jason’s directing. However, despite the films successes the comedy doesn’t always seem to flow naturally between the two different styles, it almost feels at times times that the film has been made up with the addition of several short various sketches. It creates an inconsistency and in some respects loses the films initial identity.
The British theme is also reflected unexpectedly in the locations. Despite the events being set in the US, you can clearly see that some of the locations used in the film are in the UK. I did wonder if this was deliberate and part of the films bizarre humour, as it would have been easy to add a twist in the story where Jason comes to the UK.
I did question for the first half of the film whether it should be constituted as a horror, as a majority of the initial violence coming across as a dark comedy with the farcical turn of events. Although with the the gradual change in tone which occurs later in the film, you can see why the festival decided to take it on board. There isn’t a huge amount of graphic violence shown on screen, but Jason still manages to create the horror by bringing a darker malice as the film goes on, enveloping a more malicious persona for his own auto ego.
One of the highlights in the film are the various cameos who appear throughout. It brings together several familiar faces from the Askewniverse with additional self-parodies from Brian O’Halloran and Kevin Smith. As well as some 90’s nostalgia with the brilliant cameos from Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher (The New Adventures of Superman), Zach Galligan (Gremlins 2: The New Batch) and Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers).
More surprisingly there are some unexpected highlights from the UK cast members, including Vinny Jones delivering another explosive performance as himself once again. Although it is Busted singer Matt Willis and Inbetweeners Blake Harrison who were the biggest surprises with their comedy performances, especially Harrison who was almost unrecognisable as TV presenter Oliver.
It is Danny Trejo who manages to steal his scenes with a brilliantly memorable cameo, displaying an overly flamboyant persona which is a huge contrast to the usual stern character he is best known for portraying.
With his directorial debut it feels as though Mewes is trying to move away from the image as part of Jay and Silent Bob, but at the same time he still manages to maintain that safety net of doing what he knows best. With the darker horror elements and some of the British humour Jason manages to throw something different into the mix with varying degrees of success. Yet is the constant references where the film really succeeds and is therefore definitely a film which has been aimed at the fans. It may not be the perfect execution but there is enough here to make it worth watching, as serves as a great way to fill the void as we wait to see more of Jay in the upcoming Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
Madness in the Method
Movie title: Madness in the Method
Movie description: Jason Mewes, attempting method acting in order to gain more respect for himself in Hollywood, slowly descends into madness.
Director(s): Jason Mewes
Actor(s): Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Gina Carano, Jaime Camil, Vinnie Jones
Genre: Horror, Crime, Comedy
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Madness in the Method
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
