Kevin Smith’s love letter to his youth has nostalgia and heart.

The Atlantic Moviehouse in Atlantic Highlands, NJ was the theater that Kevin Smith would go to back in the days. A few years ago, he bought the place and turned it into the Smodcastle. It’s still up and running, although he does host live auctions to help keep the spirit alive, and plus concessions are what helps make the movie industry going. I’ve been to a few of his screenings, met some of his guests, and they are a lot of fun. And even before his opening, I’ve met Smith a few times and he’s a cool guy. If you do come to Atlantic Highlands, you should give this theater a chance.

He uses this very theater to film his latest movie “The 4:30 Movie,” which is another one of his movies inspired by his life (“Clerks” being his cult masterpiece), but spiked with John Hughes sweetness and passion for 80s movies. Now that’s something inspiring about the film.

As the film begins in 1986, a boy named Brain (Austin Zajur) asks his crush Melody (Siena Agudong) out to the movies, and they decide to go to the 4:30 movie. He and his two friends-the buff Burny (Nicholas Cirillo) and the dopey Belly (Reed Northup)-often buy tickets for a PG or PG-13-rated movie at the Atlantic movie theater, so they can sneak into an R-rated movie. What isn’t youth without theater hoping?

The trailers they watch have more timing and attitude than the jerky manager (Ken Jeong), who drives a car with movie reels on them like he’s supposed to be a movie buff, and he’s always on their tails the way the principal was on Ferris Bueller’s rouse.

The humor isn’t as laugh out loud funny as some of Smith’s earlier films, but there are some truth in them from time to time. I like how Brian tries to make an important distinction with his friends that when sequels come in, they don’t put 1 in the original title. So there’s since there was a “Poltergeist 2,” it wouldn’t be “Poltergeist 1,” it would still be “Poltergeist.”

The movie has a number of cameos, some of them new to Smith’s world, and many others very familiar with his work. You have Logic as the Flash Gordon movie character Astro Blaster, Kevin’s daughter Harley Quinn Smith as a movie nun disguised as a hooker, Sam Richardson as the celebrity wrestler Major Murder, Genesis Rodriguez as a hit usher with bigger dreams, Adam Pally as an emo usher who hates movies, and Kate Miccuci and Rachel Dratch respectively play the overbearing mothers of the two main lovebirds. And you also see Jason Mewes, Jason Biggs, Rosario Dawson, Jason Lee, and Method Man, among others.

I still urge you people to visit the Smodcastle theater when in Atlantic Highlands, because it’s plain and simple-not indulged in commercialism-almost like the good old days. Maybe that’s what this movie wants to remind us on, while giving it a John Hughes spin on it. It’s not a classic Kevin Smith movie, because of its reliance on cameos and some unnecessary supporting characters, but it is a helpful reminder on his earlier films. And if this is another entry inspired by his youth, then so be it. He’s Kevin Smith and he’ll always be Kevin Smith. And he loves movies and making them.

Playing at Select Theaters Throughout the Country, including Smodcastle Cinemas