'Jersey Girl': Likable tyke makes Bennifer a distant memory

All right, dear readers, listen up, because I'm about to reveal a major plot point in "Jersey Girl." But you probably know it already, because Ben Affleck's been talking about it to any interviewer who will listen: Jennifer Lopez's character, in this movie? She dies. Early. Seriously, you'll barely be past that top buttery layer in your popcorn when Lopez buys the farm, about 10 minutes in. And you will be relieved, because her character is so whiny and annoying by the time she goes that you just might be tempted to jump into the movie and do her in yourself. (It's not Lopez's fault; the role's poorly written — or, more likely, drastically edited.)

So, this isn't "Gigli." Let's all move on.

Everybody past the Ben-and-J.Lo thing now? Good. Because this movie isn't about the two of them at all, but a rather more interesting couple: Ollie (Affleck), a young widower, and Gertie (Raquel Castro), his daughter. After Gertie's mom (Lopez) dies suddenly in childbirth, Ollie loses his job as a high-powered New York music publicist and retreats to his father's house in New Jersey, where he takes a dull job with the city and carefully guards his broken heart as the years go by.

Movie review Showtimes and trailer **½ "Jersey Girl," with Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, George Carlin, Stephen Root, Mike Starr, Raquel Castro, Jason Biggs, Jennifer Lopez. Written and directed by Kevin Smith. 103 minutes. Rated PG-13 for language and sexual content including frank dialogue. Several theaters.

There's romance in Ollie's future, with the beguiling clerk at the video store (Liv Tyler, wearing glasses and employing a Melanie Griffith-ish baby voice). But writer/director Kevin Smith (who dedicates the movie to his father) focuses the movie more on parenthood — on how a previously shallow man finds his soul by caring for his child.

It's not a remotely fresh idea — at times, "Jersey Girl" feels like a pale copy of "Kramer vs. Kramer," "Baby Boom" or any of a number of single-parent-makes-good movies. But it's saved by an unusually charming child actor: Castro, who has a voice like a pan flute and a sweetly low-key screen presence. Smith seems to have a knack for working with kids; Castro obviously wasn't encouraged to be extra-cute, as so many movie kids are, which makes her performance honest and likable.

George Carlin is nicely crusty as Ollie's dad. And Affleck ... well, he hasn't really challenged himself since "Changing Lanes" (yes, he can act, go rent it) and doesn't do much that's surprising here beyond his usual slick-yuppie routine, but he and the kid find a nice chemistry.

And Will Smith plays himself in an endearing cameo, offering father-to-father advice to Ollie as they sit in a waiting room. (You wonder, though, what kind of publicist would make Will Smith sit in a waiting room.)

"Jersey Girl" feels like a labor of love; there's a wealth of careful detail in this family's world. Gertie sleeps in what's obviously her father's childhood room, with its truck wallpaper. It's never mentioned, but the fact that this was never swapped for something more girlie underscores Ollie's attitude toward living with his father — it's temporary, even after seven years.

Overall, "Jersey Girl" doesn't quite work; the movie never figures out what to do with Tyler, and the life lessons Ollie learns seem unusually obvious. But it's a sweet little movie all the same. Skip the first 10 minutes, and it's probably even sweeter.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com