Clerks (1994)

3.5 out of 4

Starring: Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Lisa Spoonhauer, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith

Director: Kevin Smith

Time: 92 mins

The first in writer-director Kevin Smith's (Dogma) so-called New Jersey trilogy (together with Mallrats and Chasing Amy), Clerks is an ultra low-budget, profanity-filled, cult comedy favourite that holds nothing back and by doing so delivers some big, big laughs. Though wildly uneven, with a wild, grainy look to match, there are so many laugh-out-loud lines and situations in this film that you will readily forgive its rawness and rough-around-the-edges style of filmmaking. Clerks is an auspicious debut by the talented Gen-Xer Smith, and anyone of his generation (and even those who are not) will enjoy this film provided they can handle lots of swearing and conversations about sex.

There isn't much of a story to Clerks, but what there is concerns a convenience store clerk named Dante Hicks (O'Halloran), who is called in to work on his day off and proceeds to encounter one nightmare after another. He has problems with the window shutters, a multitude of customers, his current girlfriend Veronica (Ghigliotti), his ex-girlfriend Caitlin (Spoonhauer), and most of all his best friend Randal (Anderson), a clerk at the video store next to his establishment. Throw in a rooftop hockey game, a visit to a funeral parlour, and the lovable duo of Jay (Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith), and you have a bewildering mix of characters and events that in essence add up to nothing but exist to make you laugh. And laugh you will, unless you're a conservative type of person who squirms or flees at the mere mention of a swear word. If that is the case, then this film is definitely not for you. Hardly a minute goes by without a piece of profanity being uttered, but mostly in the employ of some outrageous line or joke. Anderson, being the requisite smart-mouthed friend that Smith always uses (see the similar characters in Mallrats and Chasing Amy), has some of the best one-liners, but O'Halloran also generates lots of laughs as he struggles with the sexual practices of his girlfriend and an old man who wants to read pornographic magazines in the store's toilet.

Shot in black and white on grainy 16mm film, the film certainly shows off its budget (or lack of) of US$27,000. While not a visual masterpiece, Clerks certainly has the writing and the acting to back it up. Like Kevin Williamson (Scream, Scream 2, and TV's Dawson's Creek), Smith inserts plenty of pop culture references into his films, and Clerks is no exception. There is a discussion about the relative merits of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as well as a paraphrasing of a line from Jaws. Charlie Sheen lookalike O'Halloran is fine as the never-in-control Dante, who is worried about everything that comes his way, while Anderson is perfect as the laidback, cool, and unruffled Randal, the wisecracking best friend you sometimes wish you never had. Jason Mewes and Smith, himself, as the drug-dealing duo who have appeared in all four of Smith's films, have relatively minor parts, but each make their presence felt in their own inimitable way.

I have now seen all of Kevin Smith's films, but in a different order to the way it was intended. Dogma (#4) was first, followed by Mallrats (#2), then Clerks (#1) and Chasing Amy (#3). I actually saw Clerks and Chasing Amy on the same night, and it was quite fun to hear mention of characters from Clerks in Chasing Amy. Nevertheless, each one is complete in its own right, so one need not have seen any of the others to appreciate any of them. Clerks is wild, unruly, and full of swearing. If you're not offended by frequent profanity, you'll find it a very funny ride.

(c) Joe Wong (20 June 2000)