My review was written in July 1992 after watching the film at a Midtown Manhattan screening room.
Jamie Gertz gives a winning performance in "Jersey Girl", an unoriginal variation on such Italo-Yank romances as "Moonstruck". Not sharp enough to create much box office action, pic has the potential to warm the hearts of ancillary viewers, especially young women.
Just opened in England but not scheduled for American release until 1993, pic is an unusual low-budget entry backed by Interscope, which ordinarily delivers major product like the "Three Men and a Baby" pics.
It also marks a radical change of pace for indie director David Burton Morris ("Patti Rocks"), who handles the romance well but is ultimately done in by too much corn in Gina Wendkos's script.
Gertz is the prototypical young woman from New Jersey, living with her dad Joe Bologna (who fears her becoming an old maid) and working in a day care center. She spends much of her time hanging out at the local Bendix Diner with her pals Aida Turturro, Molly Price and Star Jasper.
Wendkos's main theme is that old standby: get out of your provincial rut and blossom. Instead of the "Working Girl" approach, Gertz takes a more old-fashioned route, trying to win some young hunk from Manhattan.
Staking her VW Beetle out in a Mercedes dealer lot, she "meets cute" with Dylan McDermott, a successful young graphics salesman. Gertz gets off on the wrong foot by causing a car accident that results in $6,300 damage to his new Mercedes, and she doesn't even have insurance. Her persistence pays off, however. When McDermott's blonde goddess girlfriend (Sheryl Lee) dumps him, he calls Gertz for a date. They soon end up in the sack, but Gertz is soon given the brush-off.
At this point, what has been a heartwarming picture about Gertz's Pollyanna-esque search for love becomes formula filmmaking. McDermott, as an Italian guy from Queens, is interested only in the fast-track of wealth and status, so he drops Gertz, who represents what he's left behind.
Unlike Mike Nichols' "Working Girl", which embraced the '80s ethos of success, "Jersey Girl" unconvincingly opts out of the rat race. McDermott rather arbitrarily becomes fed up with snooty girlfriend Lee and his back-stabbing boss, chucks his $100,000-plus job and wins back Gertz.
Movie audiences, especially women identifying with Gertz, might swallow some of this, but when McDermott proves his love to her by trashing his Mercedes, enough is enough.
Very attractively lensed by Ron Fortunato, Gertz shows a big talent in her first top-billed film appearance. McDermoot certainly looks the part but operates a notch lower, unwisely using a vocal timbre that recalls too closely Richard Gere in "Pretty Woman".
As tough-talking buddy Cookie, Molly Price is a terrific scene-stealer, with good support from gal pals Turturro and Jasper. Tech credits are good without any flamboyance or strong sense of style. A song score including tunes by local fave John Cafferty is effective.
