Grade: B

Verdict: A raunchy blast that's as smart as it is dumb.

Details: Starring Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes. Written and directed by Smith. Rated R for nonstop crude and sexual humor, pervasive strong profanity, and drug content. One hour, 40 minutes.

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Review: Kevin Smith just won't grow up. Bless him.

In “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” the writer-director-costar lets loose with the nonstop flatulence, sex and body-fluid jokes that percolated through his previous movies — whether his first flick “Clerks” or his last one, “Dogma,” a comic critique of Christian faith and in particular the Catholic church.

“J&SB” lacks the underlying seriousness of that film. And it doesn't have any of the melancholy romanticism of his best work, “Chasing Amy.” No, Smith is wrapping up his “New Jersey Chronicles” with an exuberantly adolescent grab-bag of jokes hung on a paper-thin plot.

Jason Mewes and Smith revive their roles as motormouthed dope dealer Jay and his virtually mute buddy Silent Bob. But this time, these two sidekicks come center stage.

The boys embark on a road trip — that reliable standby for a plot — when they learn that their pals, the graphic novel team of Holden (Ben Affleck) and Banky (Jason Lee), have sold rights to their comic book “Bluntman and Chronic” to Miramax, which plans to make a movie. Problem is, the comic's stoned superheroes are based on Jay and Bob, and they want to keep the flick from getting made without their permission. Or their financial participation.

So it's off they go to L.A., giving them a chance on the road to meet up with a band of latex-wearing babes who turn out to be jewel thieves (they include Shannon Elizabeth, a highly unlikely love interest for Jay, and Ali Larter who describes their gang as “walking, talking bad-girl cliches”). George Carlin appears as a drifter who teaches Bob and Jay a raunchy tip about hitchhiking, while Carrie Fisher is the unfortunate nun who benefits from that lesson. In one memorable non-sequitur, Daphne, Velma and the rest of the Scooby-Doo gang pick up the boys in their van. It makes no sense. And it's hilarious.

The guys' picaresque adventures are peppered with continuous in-jokes about movie cliches, star egos, Miramax (the film's own distributor) and the internet's army of would-be teen movie critics who spew venom from the anonymity of the www. (Let's just say that Smith has an extremely low opinion of the net's talk-back message boards.) The picture throws in cracks about George Lucas's special-edition additions to his “Star Wars” trilogy, and even has a “Planet of the Apes” parody. Smith doesn't spare himself, either, mocking his own movies throughout.

The vast supporting cast includes Affleck playing not only Holden, but himself. His pal Matt Damon also shows up for some self-parody as they shoot the sequel, “Good Will Hunting Season.” Jason Biggs, James Van Der Beek and Chris Rock turn up. So do “SNL”'s Will Ferrell as a federal wildlife marshal, and Tracy Morgan as a drug dealer named Pumpkin Escobar. Other Smith movie veterans including Shannen Doherty and Joey Lauren Adams turn up in cameos.

Make no mistake, folks. “J&SB” is consistently crude, spiked with language that could cause panic attacks in the unsuspecting. It's also one of the funniest, laugh-out-loud comedies to hit screens since the liberating naughtiness of “There's Something About Mary.” And it's an equal-opportunity offender. Example: The gay and lesbian media watchdog group GLAAD has already protested “J&SB” for being homophobic. Yeah, there are plenty of gay jokes here. But they're clearly being spouted by idiots (primarily Jay), and that's the whole point.

Anybody who's not familiar with Smith's other movies, and who couldn't care less about insider Hollywood jokes will probably be lost. But if you're on his wavelength, the movie is a comic diatribe that's both affectionate and caustic all at once.

Just remember: There's a very good reason for that R rating. After all, the movie begins with the scene where baby Jay speaks his very first word. It has four letters.

— Steve Murray, Cox News Service