Hal Hartley slumming it. Hal Hartley invades New Jersey. Hal Hartley at a keg party. Hal Hartley without all the urban angst and intelligence.

"Clerks" isn't "all that." It probably was in 1994. But now, just 5 years later, it seems dated, sophomoric and pretentious. Perhaps because it's been ripped off so much. Then again, it began by ripping off. Filmmaker Kevin Smith thanks Hal Hartley at the end of the film. And rightly so. Smith takes Hartley's New York urban hyper reality and dumbs it down to New Jersey Slacker (Linklater is thanked also) shit, fart, sex, and drug jokes. It's juvenile. Funny, at several intervals, but juvenile.

The things that make me like it are obvious. Mainly it's got two real cuties in it. Jeff Anderson as Randall and Jason Mewes as Jay. Anderson engages in verbal banter with star Brian O'Halloran that is a direct rip-off of Hartley's spitting dialogue. And where O'Halloran is whiny, obnoxious and annoying, Anderson is just annoying. At least he is cute. And his Randall has an odd interest in perverted sexuality. Definitely likable. Meanwhile, Mewes is just fun. The scene where he and Silent Bob (Smith) bust out dancing to a jam box riff is hilarious. It doesn't get any better than this. And while these two guys can quip as much homophobic nonsense as the next straight guy, at least they are secure enough in their sexuality to make gay jokes that are sometimes on themselves. Interesting.

"Clerks" is credited for beginning the independent revolution, the "indie" film scene. It didn't really do that. It just dumbed it down and made it dirty and mainstreamed it so frat boys could get it too. In hindsight, maybe this was not a good thing. Then again... Notes: Filmed at night at the convenience store Smith worked at. Which is actually why the shutters are always down.

Original ending showed Dante getting killed in a robbery. (This can be seen on the DVD).

The events in "Clerks" take place exactly one day after the events in "Mallrats." (A swimming girl's death mentioned in passing in "Clerks" begins "Mallrats.")

The film's production cost was $22,000. The rights to the music in the film cost $27,000. After post-production, the budget rose to $230,000. The film grossed $3.1 million on it's initial domestic release by Mirimax.

At the end of "Clerks," the titles say "Jay and Silent Bob will return in "Dogma." Smith's film's endcredits continue to have funny and personal messages throughout his career to date.

The film was originally rated NC-17 for language and Mirimax had to hire Alan Dersowitz to get the MPAA to reduce this to an "R" rating.

Mewes was originally deemed too weird to be on the film's posters.

There is talk of making "Clerks" a TV series in the year 2000. This is insanity.

Smith sold his comic book collection to fund the film then bought it back when it was a success. He now owns a comic store in his home town of Red Bank New Jersey called "Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash." Smith has also written many comic book stories including those that feature Jay and Silent Bob.

Begins Smith's seeming non-stop referencing of "Star Wars," "Jaws," comics and hockey in his films.

Kevin Smith's cult of personality continues with "Mallrats."
The Book of Life

Notes: Harvey sings some songs in the film. Hartley's band Ryful also does some of the music.

Williams S. Burrough's voice is heard as the preacher on the radio. I believe Hartley used preexisting audio to achieve this.

More of Lodger's reviews indexed alphabetically! Just click your favorite letter to go there.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

HOME

In Association with:

Posters From!

Get your Movies

Please Visit