An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder

The first difference you notice is that this is not material cut from several Q & A's he did. On Disc 1 you will see a show he did in Toronto. From start to finish. On Disc 2 you will find a Q & A he did in Great Britain. That fact is important because you notice that he is very aware that this is a show that is coming out on DVD. So he desperately tries to come up with somewhat interesting stories and also he really tries to be funny and doesn't just let the stories evolve. On the first 'Evening with Kevin Smith' Edition you didn't get the impression that he was under some kind of pressure to produce a certain product. You will notice that he even mentions the title 'Evening Harder' a couple of times. But aside from that there is nothing more to say, just 4 hours of Kevin Smith talking. If you are a fan you will enjoy it. Even if you are not a fan it is funnier than most stand-up's that are currently circulating. There is one thing though that I didn't like and no other Smith Fan could possibly like: The Material shown to us on this 2-Disc Set is pretty out-dated. The producers could have made an effort to bring us some more up-to-date material. Aside from that, what can I tell you? You see Smith standing on stage for about 4 hours telling stories that are funny and often interesting but have sometimes (quite often actually) not much to do with the question asked. A welcome surprise was to see an, obviously, drug-free Jason Mewes on stage. Of interest to those people who know the first 'Evening with Kevin Smith' should also be that he does a couple of follow up stories. As for me, I really enjoyed it and I guess every Kevin Smith Fan will too. 4 Hours of listening to Kevin Smith is still funnier than watching a regular comedy flick. PS: You see him come up and perform the Lord of the Rings bit that ended up as a scene in Clerks 2.

J.M. Kenny's follow-up to the best-selling AN EVENING WITH KEVIN SMITH DVD, AN EVENING WITH KEVIN SMITH 2 feels very much like a sequel: repetitious and not nearly as good as the original. The specialness of the first 'Evening' is gone, this time Smith's antics on stage aren't as amusing, most of his stories, unengaged, and the audience a bit less than thrilled. There are some decent nuggets of information here and there, Smith's thoughts on the X-Men trilogy and other movies in general, showing Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back to his child, and dealing with writer's block, but the questions asked make one wonder what type of substances the audience members were under while watching the Q&A sessions. To be honest, I found myself fast-forwarding through a fair portion of the disc. Hardcore Smith fans be warned, this is the least entertaining of anything Smith has ever done.

The original An Evening with Kevin Smith DVD was an absolute laugh riot, consistently and outrageously funny. The second time around the humor is not nearly as consistent, this time it's much more hit and miss. When it hits it's very good. When it misses things get rather dull. Basically, this is only ever going to be as good as the questions from the audience. If the questions are poor (and here more than a few of them are) you're left with some serious downtime where the program really loses steam. The original DVD had much more material to work with, taking bits and pieces from a number of different Smith Q&As. Here there are only two shows to draw from, one in Toronto and one in London, and there really is not enough good material to cover the four hour length of the DVD. Some of the questions do nothing but fill, and ultimately waste, time.

Another disappointment is that this DVD is a little too much about Kevin Smith's personal life, whereas the first one was much more about Kevin Smith's professional life and his dealings in Hollywood. There's nothing here to match those great stories from the first DVD about the likes of Prince and Tim Burton. Stories about Smith's relationship with his wife or his daughter's television viewing habits were never going to be as compelling as a story about Prince's lunacy. Smith still holds nothing back and is at times obviously trying his hardest to be outrageous. But it turns out it's a lot easier to laugh at a story about Prince than it is to laugh at a story about Smith's wife or Smith's daughter or, in one segment which surely had the old man rolling in his grave, Smith's deceased father. We expect Smith to be outrageous but, ewwwww, there is such a thing as too much information. This DVD has its moments (including the obligatory Jason Mewes appearances) but after the comic gold of the first edition this one is a bit of a disappointment.

If you love Kevin Smith movies and the man's wit and also if you need your sequel to Evening With Kevin Smith (2002), which contains some of the best Q and A answers, than this new DVD is a must have.

Kevin smith continues his Q and A session over in Toronto Canada and England and the same irreverent humor is still there with many satirical outlook about many of his experiences in the Hollywood media machine and to his daily life which I can sum up as GOOD CRUDE.

A non-stop 4hr geek-fest for the die hard Smitty's fans and also to people whom love to listen to god awful truth about everything in the movie industries and anything else.

Kevin Smith. When you hear that name, you think of Jay and Slient Bob, Dante and Randall, Holden and Alissa, Mooby's and the Quik Stop.

With Evening Harder, you're not disappointed. Smith takes us on a roller-coaster ride of sexual innuendos, rapid-fire wisecracks, and riffs on Tim Horton's, writer's block, and organized religion.

Guest shots by Jason Mewes, a special delivery of Timbits from an audience member, and Smith's take on how *he* would have written the Passion of the Christ round out just *one* disc of pure Kevin Smith gold.

Parents beware: this is *not* for the kids, nor is it for anyone that can't stomach a good solid dig at religion.