Clerks
Amazon.co.uk Review
Before Kevin Smith became a Hollywood darling with Chasing Amy, a film he wrote and directed, he made this $27,000 comedy about real-life experiences working for chump change at a New Jersey convenience store. A rude, foul-mouthed collection of anecdotes about the responsibilities that go with being on the wrong side of the till, the film is also a relationship story that takes some hilarious turns once the lovers start revealing their sexual histories to one another. In the best tradition of first-time, ultra-low budget independent films, Smith uses Clerks as an audition piece, demonstrating that he not only can handle two-character comedy but also has an eye for action–as proven in a smoothly handled rooftop hockey scene. Smith himself appears as a silent figure who hangs out on the fringes of the store’s property. –Tom KeoghAmazon.co.uk Review
Before Kevin Smith became a Hollywood darling with Chasing Amy, a film he wrote and directed, he made Clerks, a $27,000 comedy about real-life experiences working for chump change at a New Jersey convenience store. A rude, foul-mouthed collection of anecdotes about the responsibilities that go with being on the wrong side of the till, the film is also a relationship story that takes some hilarious turns once the lovers start revealing their sexual histories to one another. In the best tradition of first-time, ultra-low budget independent films, Smith uses Clerks as an audition piece, demonstrating that he not only can handle two-character comedy but also has an eye for action–as proven in a smoothly handled rooftop hockey scene. Smith himself appears as a silent figure who hangs out on the fringes of the store’s property. –Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
Made in 1994 for $27,000 on Kevin Smith’s credit cards, shot almost entirely at night in the store where he was working, oddball friends roped in for every job on both sides of the camera, and possibly the funniest script ever written specifically for 18-25s makes Clerks one of the greatest achievements in indie filmmaking.
We see a day in the life of downtrodden slacker Dante (Brian O’Halloran) who gets called into work in his convenience store in Anywheresville, New Jersey at dawn on his day off. What follows is the weirdest day in the history of low-end retail. No spoilers, but Dante is harassed both physically and mentally by his boss, his boss’s wife, customers, friends, colleagues, sales reps, corpses, lovers, ex-lovers, ex-lovers of his ex-lovers and the two local drug dealers. He lurches back and forth between earth-shattering revelations and bizarre crises until someone from the past turns up and he makes his worst decision yet. The earlier events of the day are as nothing compared to what fate has in “store”..
Many of the sublime setups revolve around his best friend Randall (a seminal performance by Jeff Anderson) a video store operative who makes Dante look like a Lexus Dealer, and who is the source of Dante’s chagrin on more than one occasion. The film also introduces Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes, Smith’s muse, and Smith himself) as the local substance wholesalers with wisdom beyond compare when Jay is not abusing the local community.
The script has just as many quotable lines as Withnail and I – grotesque, cringeworthy, profane in the extreme and very, very funny. Kevin Smith would never reach the same heights again, getting closest with Dogma, although all his films are watchable. Clerks does not appear on TV very often in the UK, and has not been available on R2 DVD before, so if you’ve only seen his more common recent work this film will put it those films in context. See how Jay and Silent Bob started out, and see all the characters that are referenced in “Mallrats”, “Chasing Amy”, “Dogma”, and “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back”.
Just remember – NEVER walk into your local video shop and try and rent ‘Happy Scrappy Hero Pup’…
Rating: 5 / 5
This film is one of the best i have ever seen, writer/director kevin smith’s first film is very funny and very rude but you must still buy this.it introduces the best double act in modern film Jay(Jason Mewes) and his hetro life mate Silent Bob(Smith) it also has the wonderfully funny Randal as the main charecter Dante’s best friend.Smith wrote the script so that randal had the funniest lines because he was going to play him but he decided not to because directing and producing was hard enough.
This is in black and white which may actually put some people off it but if you do watch it you will not be disapointed.
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this in a box set with two other films – JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK & CHASING AMY. I had heard great things about this film and when I finally watched it last night I was not let down – I thought it was really funny and to be honest not a lot of things happen so the comedy is in their conversations to each other and how they interact with customers. All the story is about is a day in the lives of Dante & Randle, Dante works in a corner shop and Randle works in a video rental store next to him.
Randle comes in to talk to Dante and basically spends all day there. While there they engage in stupid conversations about the Death Star in Star Wars or stupid questions customers ask in their stores. Jay & Silent Bob are in this too – as two youths that hang out outside the shop doing nothing (and thats all the way through the film) One of the funniest scenes in it was when Randle was ordering loads of porn videos infront of a customer.
The DVD its self is brilliant what you have is 3 DVDS – Disc 1 is the theatrical version with a cleaned up picture and clearer sound, Disc 2 is The Extended Cut with about 20 mins extra at the end of the film and thats it so your not really missing much, Disc 3 is jam packed with special features and there is too many to mention.
Last night was the first time I had seen the film and to be honest was the first film I had watched that was directed by Kevin Smith. So all I can say is buy yourself a copy and have a good laugh at it and yes it is black & white but don’t let that put you off, I can’t wait to see CLERKS II because if this is anything to go by then I’m in for a right laugh.
Thank you for reading my review.
Rating: 5 / 5
Having seen ‘Mallrats'(1995) a long time ago and recently watched and enjoyed ‘Dogma'(1999), a friend informed me of ‘Clerks’ as being the original. It’s incredibly entertaining and if you’ve ever liked any of Kevin Smith’s movies you’ll love it. In my case it has spured me on to watch all of his other films again and I look forward to the upcoming ‘Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back’. Not exactly family material but hugely enjoyable and a worthwhile purchase.
Ed.
Rating: 5 / 5
Customers come and go, are insulted, abused and served. An incredible high number of weirdos seem to pass through the shops doors all of whom try the patience of Dante (our lead character) the man behind the counter. Dante’s best friend Randall works next door at the local video shop, and regularly pops by to impart his observations on life. Written and directed by 23-year-old Kevin Smith, the film was made on a shoestring budget in grainy black and white. A superb first film for Kevin, shame that some of his mates weren’t better at acting. (aaoow).
Rating: 4 / 5