I will admit to going into Kevin Smith's-he of Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma infamy-new film with few expectations. Sure, the foul-mouthed Jay and the shrugging Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Smith himself, respectively) were the generally funny characters that have shown up in all of Smith's films, but whether or not they could keep a feature afloat was something I wouldn't have bet on. I was dead wrong. Lewd, rude and crude as it is, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is one of the funniest films I've seen in a long, long time.

Part road movie and part satire of all things Hollywood, the film does presuppose some knowledge of Smith's earlier films. It's not absolutely necessary but it helps to know that Jay and Silent Bob showed up hanging around the convenience store in Clerks and that they were the subjects of a comic book entitled "Bluntman and Chronic" designed by Jason Lee's Banky and Ben Affleck's Holden in Chasing Amy. Early on in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the two are slapped with a restraining order that prevents them from standing around abusing people outside their beloved convenience store in New Jersey.

Shortly thereafter they visit Holden and learn that Banky has sold the rights to the comic book to "those f------ at Miramax" and a movie is underway. When Affleck's Holden commiserates with the boys, who feel their "reputations" will be sullied by the film, he says, "A Jay and Silent Bob movie? Who'd pay to see that?" Everything stops for a moment as Affleck, Mewes and Smith all turn and look at the camera with wry grins on their faces. It is at this moment that the film starts to role out the laughs on a regular basis.

Our two "heroes"-Jay looking and talking like the spawn of Satan and Eminem, Silent Bob, the knowing, sweet-faced accomplice-decide to hitchhike to Hollywood to sabotage the production. The first of many cameos comes from veteran comic George Carlin as a fellow hitchhiker who lets the boys know that the number one rule of hitchhiking is to orally pleasure anyone who picks you up. When the boys protest that they are straight, he replies, "It's the new millennium-gay, straight, what's the difference?" I mention this because, although the film does make many gay jokes (and has already suffered the wrath of some gay organizations in the US), a closer reading suggests Kevin Smith is getting in touch with his inner bisexual. Jay and Silent Bob are inseparable after all and at one point Jay does refer to Silent Bob as his "hetero life-mate." Despite its foul-mouthed surface, there is a sweetness underneath...

While on the road, the boys are picked up by the cast of Scooby Do (not very funny) and then by four beautiful women, headed by Shannon Elizabeth who immediately develops a fondness for Jay. Of course, it turns out that they are international jewel thieves with Charlie's Angels-like gymnastic abilities who set up Jay and Silent Bob to take the fall for their latest caper.

By the time they get to Hollywood, with the cops on their tails, the satire comes thick and fast. On the set of Good Will Hunting II-Hunting Season they spot Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (director Gus Van Sant is shown counting his money in a corner), remarking, "Hey, it's those two f---- from the Mork movie." Affleck and Damon do a great job of taking the piss out of themselves, while Wes Craven (director of Scream, which is parodied here), Chris Rock as a belligerent director, Shannon Doherty as a prima donna, Mark Hamill (fighting a light sabre dual with our heroes) and many others join in on the self-satire.

The inside jokes fly fast and furious and the fact that most of them range from chuckle-funny to guffaw-hilarious makes Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back one treat of a film. And Smith's Silent Bob finally speaks-ironically his speech is about the terms of a film contract...