I first discovered Kevin Smith’s directorial debut “Clerks” around 1996 a couple of years after it was released in the theaters, and since then I’ve been a fan. Seeing his directed films, spin-offs (The Clerks Animated Series, the Chasing Dogma TPB, and his hillarious Evening With… college tour dvd). After the release of “Jersey Girl” and the disaster that was Benniffer some people began to doubt that Smith still had it in him. So Smith went “Back to the Well” so to speak and picked up on the characters most of us all first fell in love with: Dante, Randall, and of course Jay and Silent Bob. Thats right the Clerks are back so customers Beware.
The Story
Picking up 12 years after the events of the original Clerks, Clerks II begins with Dante Hicks (Brian O’Halloran) and Randall Graves (Jeff Anderson) now 32 years old and still working at the Quickstop and RST Video store when a sudden chain of events causes the closing of the stores. A year or so later, both Dante and Randall are working at Mooby’s (a fast food resturant chain) now, and Dante is about to start a new life with his fiance down in sunny Florida, where his bride-to-be Emma’s father has set him up with a job running one of his Car Washes, leaving Randall and the rest of his coworkers and friends behind, and everyones favorite weed dealers Jay & Silent Bob (Jason Mewes & Kevin Smith) have cleaned up, but that dosent stop them from making their money doing what they do best. At its heart Clerks II is a film about what happens when you find yourself in the same rut youve been in most of your life and and what happens when you try to change your situation.
For those who are not fans of Kevin Smith and the films he makes or have not seen a Kevin Smith film this is not a movie for you. One of the problems with Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back was there was too many “In Jokes” and you really needed to see 4 other movies to fully understand the movie, and while you dont need to see all 5 previous “View Askewniverse” films seeing the first really does help.
The Cast
Assembling his usual cast of characters Smith has reunited with Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson as Dante and Randall, as well as added the fine as hell Rosario Dawson as Mooby’s manager Becky Scott, Trevor Furman as Randall’s soon to be bestfriend Elias, Jason Mewes as Jay and Jennifer Schwalbach-Smith as Emma. As well as a slew of cameo appearences by Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Wanda Sykes, and Earthquake as customers they enconter during the day. All involved play thier parts to perfection, well almost. O’Halloran and Anderson are at home as Dante and Randall, its as if they never stopped playing the characters, Rosario Dawson and Furman are hillarious as Becky and Elias, and Jay well hes just Jay. The only gripe I have is with Schwalbach, she just dosent fit in with the group (which im sure was intentional).
Overall
By far my favorite of Kevin Smith’s work, this movie struck a special cord with me, more than any other of Kevin Smith’s film. At this point in time I find myself exactly in the same perdiciment: Im working the same type of job ive been working for the past 7-8 years with no end in sight, and my brother seems to be moving in the exact opposite direction: he graduated college, working in his career field, and getting engaged soon. With me feeling left behind. In the first film I found myself more in line with Dante, now with Clerks II its a complete 180° I see myself more in Randall’s situation.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Powered By: Wordpress
Hosted By: MediaTemple
July 27th, 2006 at 7:13 pm
i guess i shouldnt watch this film as ive never seen any of kevin smith’s films.
July 27th, 2006 at 9:07 pm
ricta….thats just sad dude
July 28th, 2006 at 2:30 am
well
its the truth
July 28th, 2006 at 6:26 am
Or just go Rent (Or Buy) the O.G. Clerks DVD and you’ll be set as least as far as Clerks II goes.
July 28th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
yeah i think i will
my brother was raving about this movie