New Jersey Wedding Called off

 NOW YOU KNOW (2002)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Jeff Anderson's writing and directing debut goes south and I mean below south of the border almost immediately. An alleged romantic comedy about a cancelled wedding results in some young bespectacled child masturbating (unseen by the way); a chihuahua run over by a lawnmower while a young idiot named Biscuit salivates over the boobilicious customer (don't worry, I am not 12 and the dog's death is mercifully unseen); the lawnmower employees deciding to rearrange someone's furniture by breaking in without stealing anything, and some shenanigans at a lesbian bar that is too unfunny at best. Oh, sure, and there is a bar scene where Biscuit has to prove he's not gay. It makes you wonder how old the director of this movie is.

But then, somewhere around the 40 minute mark, "No You Know" steadily improves. Jeff Anderson finds the sweet spot by focusing on the fractured relationship between Jeremy (Jeremy Sisto) and the wannabe bride, Kerri, who called the whole thing off (a younger Rashida Jones). There's also Marty (Heather Paige Kent), Kerri's best friend, who is pregnant and hasn't told the father yet (she has a heartbreaking scene where she confides in Kerri that shows this movie has adult moments). You'll also guess pretty quickly who the mysterious sperm donor is. Biscuit is played by Trevor Fehrman, who later appeared in Kevin Smith's work, and at first his role is cringe-inducing but then he gets funnier. Same with Jeff Anderson, playing a relatively similar role to his Randal from "Clerks," and he gets more animated as the film rolls along. I love seeing Sisto and Jones in any scenes together - there is some definite chemistry there. By the way, during the opening Vegas bachelor party sequence, Kevin Smith has a hysterical cameo discussing the merits of a marriage and maintaining it until...he decides to have sex with a hooker.

"Now You Know" could easily pass for a Kevin Smith flick and you wouldn't notice the difference. It starts badly but when it hones in on the relationships, there is a degree of honesty to it and I ended up enjoying the flick overall. This is a rarity - a seemingly bad movie that becomes decent.