I find ironic that people who enjoyed Kevin Smith's other movies hated this one. That right there pretty much explains most of the haters (i.e. those recommending Mallrats and JSB over this). I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and I was laughing my ass during most of it. I am obviously not an actor, but I didn't find any problems with the acting or the dialogue. It sounded real and believable. Sure, there may moments that are corny or make you want to wince, but every movie has moments like that. Raquel Castro and Liv Tyler really stole the show, George Carlin had just the right pizzaz as a crusty old Pop, and some of us can relate to Ben Affleck's character.