Jersey Girl is a 2004 American comedy-drama film written, co-edited and directed by Kevin Smith. It stars Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler with George Carlin (in his final onscreen film appearance before his death), Stephen Root, Mike Starr, Raquel Castro, Jason Biggs and Jennifer Lopez in supporting roles. The film follows a widowed man who must take care of his precocious daughter after her mother dies during childbirth.
It was the first film written and directed by Smith not to be set in the View Askewniverse as well as the first not to feature appearances by Jay and Silent Bob, although animated versions of them appear in the View Askew logo at the beginning of the film and the still version at the end. At $35 million, not including marketing costs, it was then Smith's biggest-budgeted film, and was a box office bomb, grossing just $36 million.
Plot
Powerful New York City media publicist Ollie Trinké's wife, Gertrude, dies during childbirth due to an aneurysm. To avoid his grief, he buries himself in his work and ignores his new daughter, Gertie, while his father, Bart, whose own wife died many years earlier, takes a month off from work to take care of her, later returning to work to convince his son to live up to his responsibility as a single parent. Stressed by a crying baby, he insults his client, Will Smith, in front of assembled reporters. He is fired and moves back in with Bart in New Jersey. He eventually apologizes for ignoring Gertie and attributes his public outburst to his grief.
Blacklisted by all of New York City's public relations firms over the incident, Ollie has to work as a civil servant in the borough where he now lives. Seven years later, Gertie, now in elementary school, often coaxes him to rent films to watch. At the video store, they meet Maya, a graduate student and one of the clerks, whose uninhibited probing into Ollie's love life almost leads to them having sex. She soon enters their lives.
As part of his job in the borough, Ollie speaks to a group of outraged citizens to win over their approval for a major public works project that will temporarily close a street in the neighborhood. His successful and enjoyable interaction with them makes him realize how much he misses public relations work. He contacts Arthur Brickman, his one-time protégé, who sets up a promising interview.
The prospect of moving back to New York City creates tension among Ollie, Gertie, Bart, and Maya, especially when he says that his interview is on the same day as Gertie's school talent show. During an argument where Ollie says they're moving back to New York City whether she likes it or not, Gertie angrily yells at him for putting himself before her again, going as far to say that she hates him and that she wishes he had died instead of Gertrude. Enraged, Ollie claims he hates her too, and says she and Gertrude took his life away and that he just wants it back, which shocks everyone. Gertie breaks down crying and runs to her room while a disappointed Bart quietly chastises Ollie for what he said. A few days later, they reconcile, apologizing for their hurtful words, and she accepts that they will be moving to New York City. While waiting to be interviewed, he has a chance encounter with Will Smith. Smith is unaware who Ollie is, but their conversation about work and children persuades Ollie to skip the interview and leave. Before leaving, Ollie refers Smith to Brickman.
Ollie rushes to make it to Gertie's Sweeney Todd performance at the last moment. The film ends with him, Gertie, Bart, Maya, and the rest celebrating at the bar. He and Maya hint at possible feelings for each other before Gertie interrupts them. He holds her in his arms and says that they are staying in New Jersey because he decided not to take the job. She asks why he did so if he loved it so much. He then says that he thought he did, but he loves his new life more because being a father to her was the only thing that he was ever really good at.