Here’s a sure-fire recipe for a bad movie. First, start with a promising idea about trying to stop a certain movie from being made. Next, write a script filled with flatulence jokes, graphic sexual comments, and as much other crude humor as possible. Then, mix in a variety of extraneous characters. Finally, put any semblance of morality on the back burner. Anyway, I think that’s what happened with Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Too bad nobody put the kabosh on this stinker somewhere along the way.

Because I usually enjoy movies about movies, watching a misguided comedy regarding filmmaking is very difficult for me. I was expecting something like Bowfinger or even Burn, Hollywood, Burn: An Alan Smithee Film. Instead, I sat there shaking my head over a series of unfunny in-jokes about actor/director Kevin Smith’s other movies (Chasing Amy, Clerks, Mallrats, and Dogma) and wondering why Smith made Jay and Silent Bob, who played minor characters in each of these films, the focus of an entire movie. Maybe, since he portrays Silent Bob himself, Smith wanted a starring role as an addition to his resume.

Yes, I did laugh at a couple of scenes. There’s an amusing orangutan who’s more expressive than either of the film’s co-stars and knows when to give other actors the Bronx cheer. Cameos by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck also worked for me. I found their spoof of a sequel to Good Will Hunting quite humorous. And I enjoyed watching Internet abusers suffer for their sins.

Sadly, none of the above made up for my annoyance at Jason Mewes as the foul-mouthed Jay. I cringed every time he spoke, which took up most of the movie. Okay, he’s supposed to be a slacker and a stoner, but this actor’s lack of screen charisma makes staring at a blank screen seem exciting. After a few scenes, his character’s off-color dialogue sounds as blah as he looks. But guess what? We’re supposed to believe he’s irresistible to lovely Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie), a woman he thinks is involved in the animal rights movement. No way, I say.

Although Smith fares better as Silent Bob, his best scenes show him finally speaking out. His words are more dramatic than his silence, and he says them with all the feeling lacking in Mewes’ delivery. Because Smith wrote the script too, I’m not surprised his few lines came across so well.

As in all road trip movies, Jay and Silent Bob meet a few quirky characters while on their mission. Misused actors here include Will Ferrell (SNL) as a silly Wild Life Marshal, Carrie Fisher (Star Wars) as a shocked nun, and George Carlin (Dogma) as a mentoring hitchhiker. When our heroes arrive in Hollywood, they encounter a tyrannical director, played too stridently by comedian Chris Rock (Down to Earth). Returning as the same character he portrayed in Chasing Amy, Jason Lee shows little enthusiasm for the role of a man who sells the movie rights to "Bluntman and Chronic," a comic book based on Jay and Silent Bob.

I predicted a great future for filmmaker Kevin Smith after seeing Chasing Amy (a film with impressive character development despite its graphic language) a few years ago. But now, regrettably, his Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back wins my vote as the most self-indulgent movie of the year.

(Released by Dimension Films and rated "R" for pervasive strong language, drug content and non-stop crude and sexual humor.)