Writer/director Kevin Smith returns yet again to his Red Bank, New Jersey saga, and in the process promotes the popular long-time bit-players Jay (Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith himself) to leading men. Though the results range from mildly amusing to excruciating, the sheer silliness of Jay & Silent Bob Strikes Back at least raises it above the level of Smith’s last two hopeless misfires.

The scant details which pass for a plot run like this: ‘lovable stoners’ Jay and Bob discover the Internet’s existence only to stumble across Miramax’s plans to make a movie based on their comic book alter-egos Bluntman and Chronic. This, however, throws a rather unkind spotlight on the heroic wastrels’ own lives, and so they take to the road for LA with the intention of disrupting the film shoot.

Since 1994’s Clerks, Kevin Smith’s pair of comic creations have frequently been the best thing about the director’s movies, despite occasional Cheech-and-Chong tendencies. Smith’s slackers-and-Star Wars shtick has looked decidedly formulaic since Chasing Amy, but one could usually rely on the New Jersey duo to provide refreshingly anti-PC patter and prolific profanity (‘We figure an abortion clinic is a good place to meet loose women. Why else would they be there unless they like to fuck?’ reasons Jay in Dogma). The wisdom of giving them an entire 104 minutes of big-screen time to themselves, though, has to be regarded as questionable. Further, many viewers might find the film’s neglect of narrative in favour of an endless parade of celeb cameos somewhat tedious.

Nonetheless, Jason Mewes’ obnoxiously offensive vocabulary retains its charms, while on occasion the film’s winks at the audience can reap rewards (most notably when Affleck and Damon slag each other’s careers off). Still, it’s a film whose genuine laugh-out-loud moments could fit comfortably into the trailer, making it just about worthwhile for Smith die-hards. Everyone else would be better off re-renting Clerks.