Following up the incredibly successful and funny An Evening with Kevin Smith comes this slightly different take, the sequel Evening Harder. Where the original brought together clips from a variety of appearances the cult filmmaker made at colleges across the United States, this two-disc set is comprised of two complete shows: one at London, Englands Criterion Theatre and, more importantly, a Canadian stop at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto. The Toronto show sees Smith waxing poetic on the ubiquitous nature of Tim Hortons while discussing the lack of hockey, although tragically missing from the DVD edit is Smiths obsessive musings on Degrassi, which played a large part in both of his Toronto appearances, the second of which is captured here. No matter the subject, Smiths abilities as a speaker and storyteller are beyond compare, with a style that allows him to sound completely at ease while spinning tales with no real punch lines. While the stories arent always as memorable as those from the first instalment, they are nonetheless entertaining and frequently elicit genuine, hearty fits of laughter. In particular, Smiths London appearance contains an outrageously funny story about his young daughter walking in on he and his wife having sex that might be better than anything on the first instalment. Both the Toronto and London discs contain a location-specific, streeter-style extra, though the Toronto one relies a little too much on tired Canadian clichés that arent terribly funny. Seeing Jason Mewes attempt to pick up British women with such lines as "Let me get up in them guts, however, is worth watching. This release will prove a worthwhile purchase to any and all dedicated Smith fans.
(Sony)An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder
J.M. Kenny
BY Sam SutherlandPublished Feb 16, 2007