Clerks 2 (spoilers, I guess)

For 12 years I have waited for more of Dante Hicks and Randall Graves. Don't get me wrong, Kevin Smith has made some great movies (Dogma, Chasing Amy) some very good movies (Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) and one terrible movie (Jersey Girl) but Clerks was his opus. Clerks changed the way dialogue was written in indie films. Along with Tarentino, Smith revolutionized the indie scene. With his nerdy banter and amazing diatribe, Smith's characters sound intelligent, even when talking about the most sophomoric of topics. In this film he creates what I think is his single best movie. He takes what he did in Clerks and adds 12 years worth of experience and out comes the funniest movie I have seen in a few years, yes funnier than Wedding Crashers and 40 year old virgin. However, you might get shot if you try quoting some of the best lines.


Dante and Randall still don't do much, but now they work at a fast food joint and have a teenage co-worker to pick on and a hottie boss in the form of Rosario Dawson. I could go into the plot but honestly, with Smith films the plot is basically secondary. The dialogue in this film is unlike anything I have ever heard. Who else is going to write a 5 minute section of dialogue about which trilogy is better, Lord of the Rings or Star Wars (it's lord of the rings by the way). Who else is going to be concerned with a character whose sole purpose in life seems to be Transformers. By the way, Trevor Fehrman who plays the nerdy kid is the perfect foil to Randall's monologues about Satan and sex.


This movie is obviously not for everyone with its racism, beastiality or "interspecies eroticism" and constant references to sexual acts but like the 40 year old virgin or South Park, it is a dumb comedy for the smart people. The acting is worlds better in this one. The two leads, who aren't really actors, found a way to actually emote in this bad boy. Jay and Silent Bob are fresh out of rehab and Jay has turned his life to God, however he still sells weed. The movie is basically a commentary on everything nerdy and slacker-esque in the world. It is a movie for comic book and movie nerds. It is a movie that made Erik laugh out loud on numerous occasions and that never happens! This movie also has a point. A point that is made brilliantly by its two leads as they sit in a jail cell. The conversation between the two friends has some very honest writing and feels very similar to an Aaron Sorkin Script, proving to me that Smith doesn't always have to be funny to be effective.


this seems to cap a period of film making for Smith. He bookends the Jay and Silent Bob type era with 2 Clerk's movies. Who knows where he will go from here. Hopefully not with the mis-step that was Jersey Girl. Whatever he chooses to do, hopefully he sticks a few more nerd type references and may "pillow pants" live forever. Oh and for those of us who remember Clerks, he gives us a nice "wink wink" at the very end!