Now here is a film sure to bring in a split reaction. The split will probably be between the Smith faithful and everybody else, although there is likely to be some crossover. I am not sure I can be counted among the the Smith fan club, but I do tend to enjoy his films more often than not. For example, I loved Clerks and Chasing Amy, but was somewhere in the middle on Mallrats and Jersey Girl. After getting past the Smith fanboy scene, there is the issue of making a sequel to a cult indie flick from twelve years ago. I am happy to say this film is a success.
It's crass, it's vulgar, and it has a heart of gold. We pick up with our favorite clerks, Dante and Randal, twelve years after the events of the original Clerks. Following the demise of the Quick Stop and the video store, after an unfortunate coffee pot fire, the duo have found themselves working at Mooby's, one of the local fast food chain establishments. As always, they have big dreams and very little motivation.
This day-in-the-life film finds Dante on the cusp of a new way of life. He is engaged and about to move to Florida where his fiancee's family will give them a house and a job. It also happens to be a life he is not sure he wants, and Randal knows he doesn't want. This day happens to be Dante's last day and Randal is set to make it a day to remember.
At the center of the film is the supreme hetero friendship between the two clerks. Everything else is just icing on the cake. For as many f-bombs and perverted sexual comments as there are, they never become jokes for a joke's sake, they all serve to reveal these characters, their insecurities, and their genuine friendship. This duo is meant to be together forever, regardless of the cost. The journey they take over the course of the day is what this movie is about; you may see the ending coming, but it doesn't matter – this is about the characters.
Article comments
1 - Ty
Maybe I'll finally get a response to my comment re: Clerks II:
I thought the movie was good, but I had an issue with Emma Bunting.
She should NOT have been played by Jennifer Schwalbach, who conveniently dropped the "-Smith" we saw in her credit for Jay & Silent Bob Strikes Back.
She is cute, but in the movie she looked god-awful, and not believable as Dante's early 30's fiance. She should have been someone who isn't Mrs. Kevin Smith AND a "name." It probably would have helped box office numbers.
M. Night showed his ego by making himself a bigger role in Lady in the Water, and Kevin Smith showed HIS ego by casting his wife in Clerks II.