Kevin Smith was 24 years old and working at a convenience store when he produced, directed, and wrote the screenplay for "Clerks". He also appears in the film as Silent Bob. Filming took place only when the store was closed; for this reason the shutters couldn't be opened. Shot in grainy black and white, poorly edited, amateurishly acted, and with poor sound, "Clerks" seems to have been made even cheaper than the measly $27,000 it cost to film it. Obtaining the rights to the soundtrack would cost more than that.
There's not much in the way of story or character development. Dante (Brian O'Halloran) is a glum convenient store clerk, while irresponsible Randal (Jeff Anderson) works at a neighboring video store. When Randal is actually on the job, he insults the customers. But most of the time he hangs out with Dante, usually getting him into trouble. Dante's current girlfriend is Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti), but he is still in love with his ex, Caitlin (Lisa Spoonauer). Also hanging around the store are slackers Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith). The store customers can all be categorized as eccentrics, perverts, losers, or jerks.
There is much discussion about the sexual practices of Dante, Veronica, and Caitlin. Between them, they seem to have done every adult under thirty within five miles of the store. "Clerks" was originally rated NC-17 due to its language. Many people have been offended by the film. Many more, however, think such dialogue is hilarious. Sometimes it actually is, especially when Dante hypocritically realizes that Veronica's sexual experience is much more extensive than he had thought.
Checking out the user ratings on imdb.com, the grades given the film slide downhill fast as the age demographic increases. Younger and older viewers tend to see "Clerks" in different ways. The young see "Seinfeld" uncensored; the old see abysmal production values, and a lack of plot or credible characters. Dante seems most real. Randal couldn't hold his job for a week, Veronica would never reveal (much less keep count of) the number of guys she's 'gone down on', and Caitlin wouldn't have sex in a pitch dark bathroom with a stranger who has been dead for several hours. But the film's many shortcomings are somewhat compensated for by the occasionally clever, if unlikely, line of dialogue.
Smith financed his breakthrough film by selling his comic book collection and running up his credit cards. His financial gamble was rewarded when the film received Independent Spirit and Cannes festival awards. Smith has since moved on to much bigger budget films, "Mallrats", "Chasing Amy" and "Dogma". All of these films reference hockey, and have the recurring drug-dealing characters Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith). "Mallrats" is a prequel to "Clerks", occurring the day before. (45/100)
If you re in the market for what The Detroit News called a lively comic adventure, Clerks delivers with wholesale hilarity! It s one wild day in the l...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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