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Overall Rating
  Awesome: 31.16%
Worth A Look: 32.61%
Average: 5.07%
Pretty Bad: 5.8%
Total Crap: 25.36%
7 reviews, 96 user ratings
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| Clerks II |
by Erik Childress
"Kevin Smith's Finest Achievement - So Suck It Joel Siegel"
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In 1994 I was just another person working at a video store, back at a time when it was vogue to be an aspiring filmmaker employed at such a place. For one of my college films, I even made a half-hour short about life in the night of such employees. Little did I know that a filmmaker named Kevin Smith was right around the corner with a $28,000 black-and-white independent feature about just such a concept that would become an indie sensation and launch a cult following that continues to this day. It’s now 12 years and five features later, fans loyal as ever and critics still divided in praise over his clever repartee and scorn over his lack of growth as a filmmaker. Even when he tried with an Oscar-winning cinematographer having his back for the cute, but formulaic PG-13 ode to family, Jersey Girl, his base turned their back and the critics were unimpressed. Going back to what got him here, Smith has managed to take what could be construed as a pander attack to win back his audience and turned it into not just an all-around growth experience for him and his characters but a film that is in several ways actually better than the original.Despite his perpetual whining about his lot in life in the original and a wake-up speech from his closest counterpart, it may surprise viewers to find Dante Hicks (Brian O’Halloran) still working at the Quik Stop convenience store in Jersey. Only he arrives to a rude awakening when he’s finally able to get those shutters open and find the place burning from the inside out. Jumping forward from his last day there to his last day at the Dogma-inspired Mooby’s fast food restaurant, Dante is about to get married and move out of the state once and for all to Florida. Despondent about this shift into adulthood is hetero life-partner, Randall (Jeff Anderson), still shucking responsibility and getting annoyed by seemingly every “mouth-breather” that dares to share the same space as him.
Randall isn’t the only one sad to be seeing Dante leave. It seems in his time at Mooby’s he’s developed a close friendship to its manager (Rosario Dawson), who took over the location while her uncle recovered from cancer (and doing a pretty darn good job considering she only seems to have three other employees for a full day’s work – 2 ½ if you count Randall.) She even gets the nail polish treatment Dante’s beloved Veronica got in the first film; clearly Smith’s flashing signal of the girl Dante should be with instead of the slightly possessive fiancée (Jennifer Schwalbach, Smith’s wife) who has chosen a “Mrs. Hicks” T-shirt as her fashion statement of the day.
This already probably feels like way too much plot to detail a film that rises to glory during geek rants about movies and the frank conversations about deviant sexual acts. Fans of the original certainly won’t be disappointed as Smith has gone from “snowballing” to “ass-to-mouth” with the transition of someone who was only getting warmed up a dozen years ago. Randall’s battle with a pair of Lord of the Rings fanatics over the only trilogy that matters (Star Wars) will be appreciated by even the staunchest supporters of both and ends on a note of implosion so perfect that its impossible to imagine such a spirited debate of passion ending any other way.
Leaving its other morsels to the discovery of the viewer, their greatest surprise may be just how sweet the film truly is. Where Jersey Girl was ready to hit those buttons at every corner, Clerks II succeeds because of its unanticipated depth to its relationships. Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes & Smith) come labeled as “new and improved”; a result of a probationary stint in 12-steps, but no such branding prepares for the emotional resonance of Dante and Randall’s off-kilter friendship. During one of Randall’s work blow-offs he gets Dante to take him to a go-kart track; not the first choice for anyone suffering through a sudden bout of regret but certainly one rife with the potential for wackiness. Something odd happens though halfway through this scene. You realize its not about laughter, foolishness or irresponsibility. This is a moment for them. Set to “Raindrops Are Falling On My Head”, all signs point to Smith using this as a time for mocking (even Sam Raimi used it to comic effect in Spider-Man 2.) But its all Dante and Randall and its genuine. No car crashes, no screwing around with other drivers and no kissy-face parodies and it sets the tone for a final act that might have come off as otherwise forced and obvious.
Overselling the drama isn’t what Clerks fans probably want to hear. Smith probably wouldn’t either. So let me reiterate that part deux hits its moments of shock and awe with thunderous laughter. Jay and Silent Bob may not be as adversarial as they used to be, particularly after Randall dropped dime on them in Strike Back, but their pas de resistance of The Silence of the Lambs is worth the trip alone. Loads of credit must be given to Rosario Dawson, who Smith himself sums up just right during the special thanks by saying how strong her performance is that it will lead audiences to believe that she would actually screw Dante. As the girl next door and the boss every fast food employee wishes to be taught dance in a loose-fitting tanktop, its great work no matter how you sum it up. Its Anderson though who keeps Randall from veering into complete insensitivity, really nailing the extra load of ferocity in his diatribes and walks the tightrope just perfectly during the final scenes, leaning just this side of overwrought sincerity into a truly touching performance.Clerks II may not rank as the most gut-busting of Smith’s resume (although many moments are), but we’re left with a maturity that punches us in the gut the way it does Dante and Randall. Like one of his oft-referenced heroes, Spielberg who was once criticized for the growing up that Hook represented, Smith has found a way to emulate him with the kind of combined nostalgia of his previous work and a leap into another path for his work as Steven managed with his ’93 double bill of Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List. Another lofty comparison, I’m aware, but as the film’s brilliant final Graduate-esque shot seeps through you it should dawn that this is Kevin Smith finding his way as a complete storyteller who shares more than just a connection with the two characters who brought him here a dozen years earlier. It’s him profoundly finding the bridge between the worlds and inviting his loyal audience to cross it along with Dante and Randall.
link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=14852&reviewer=198
originally posted: 07/21/06 14:46:52
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USA
21-Jul-2006 (R)
DVD: 28-Nov-2006
UK
22-Sep-2006
Australia
31-Aug-2006
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