Review of Clerks (1994) by Martin D — 19 Oct 2011

Clerks is a 1994 independent comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also appears in the film as Silent Bob. Starring Brian O'Halloran as Dante Hicks and Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves, it presents a day in the lives of two store clerks and their acquaintances. Clerks was the first of Smith's View Askewniverse films and the only one to date to be shot entirely in black and white. It introduces several characters, notably Jay and Silent Bob, who reappear in his later works, including Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Clerks II.

Clerks, which had been shot for US$27,575 in the convenience store where director Kevin Smith worked in real life, grossed over US$3 million in theaters, launching Smith's career.

On April 15, 1994, Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran), a clerk at a local Quick Stop convenience store in Leonardo, New Jersey, is called into work on his day off by his boss to cover a few hours for another employee who is sick. Arriving at the store, he finds that the locks to the security shutters are jammed closed with chewing gum, so he hangs a sheet over them with a message written in shoe polish: "I ASSURE YOU; WE'RE OPEN.".

Dante's day is spent in the purgatory of serving a succession of customers while bemoaning the fact that he's "not even supposed to be here today." Interspersed with the demands of his job, Dante passes time in wide-ranging conversations with his slacker friend, Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson). Randal ostensibly works at the neighboring video store, although he spends almost the entire day at the Quick Stop. They converse about many things to pass time, such as whether the contractors working on the second Death Star when it was destroyed at the end of Return of the Jedi were innocent victims or not. Dante's current girlfriend, Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti), also stops in and the two talk about Dante's current disposition-in a rut with no motivation to change. Further contributing to Dante's misery is an announcement in the local newspaper that his unfaithful ex-girlfriend, Caitlin, is engaged to be married.

Learning that he is stuck working the store all day, Dante convinces his friends to play hockey on the store roof. The game is short; 12 minutes in, an irate customer shoots their only ball off the roof and into a gutter. Reopening the store, Dante finds out one of his ex-girlfriends has died and her memorial service is today. Randal talks him into closing the store again and going to the wake. The visit is disastrous, with Randal and Dante running out to escape in their car. The audience does not see what transpires during the memorial service. However, a later conversation between the two reveals that Randal accidentally knocked over the casket by leaning on it.

That night Caitlin (Lisa Spoonhauer) surprises Dante with a visit. After she assures Dante that the engagement announcement was premature and arranged by her mother, the two trade banter and Dante becomes torn between her and Veronica. He finally decides to take Caitlin on a date and slips home to change. He returns to discover that Caitlin had sex with a dead man in the unlit bathroom, having mistaken the man for Dante (the man had earlier entered the bathroom with a pornographic magazine and had suffered a fatal heart attack while masturbating). An ambulance takes Caitlin away in shock, along with the corpse.

Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith), a pair of stoners who have spent all day hanging out (and dealing marijuana) outside the Quick Stop, enter the store to shoplift. Dante turns down Jay's offer to party with them. Knowing Dante's predicament, Silent Bob pauses before following Jay outside and offers the following wisdom: "You know, there's a million fine-looking women in the world, dude. But they don't all bring you lasagna at work. Most of 'em just cheat on you." Dante then realizes that he loves Veronica. When she returns to the Quick Stop, though, Randal complicates things by revealing that Dante was in love with Caitlin and is planning to date his ex again thinking Dante still wanted Caitlin. Veronica angrily breaks up with Dante and reveals to him that Randal told her of his plans to be with Caitlin.

When Randal enters the Quick Stop after closing the RST video, Dante loses his temper and fights with him. After the fight, they lie on the floor worn out. Dante claims that Randal does nothing for him but make his life miserable by getting him fined, offending his customers, and ruining his relationship. Randal explodes saying that Dante is the one who closed the store to play hockey, to go to the wake, and to attempt to get back together with his ex-girlfriend without thinking about his current one. He then says that Dante came to work of his own volition and overcompensates for having a monkey's job. He claims Dante thinks he is more advanced than the customers and Randal storms off with "If we're so fucking advanced, what are we doing working here?" leaving Dante speechless on the floor.

They reconcile and Dante says he will try to talk to Veronica and visit Caitlin and possibly get some direction in his life. The film ends with Randal walking out of the store, popping back in briefly to toss Dante's sign at him stating, "You're closed!"[1].

[edit] The lost scene.

The events of Julie Dwyer's wake were scripted by Smith, but unfilmed due to the probable cost of producing the scene. For the tenth anniversary Clerks X DVD release, the scene was produced in color using an animation style similar to that of Clerks: The Animated Series. The "lost scene" was also presented in comic book form of the Clerks comic book series, with the title of "The Lost Scene".

Dante and Randal, after hearing of the death of Dante's former high school flame Julie Dwyer, go to her wake. At the wake, Randal picks up some death cards from a table and discusses collecting them like baseball cards. Dante also runs into another former high school classmate, Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), from Chasing Amy. Alyssa tells Dante that she was going to see Julie's appearance on Truth or Date (see Mallrats) before she learned of her death. Randal walks over to the two and greets Alyssa with "Hey, 'Finger Cuffs'!" (see Chasing Amy) prompting her to angrily storm off.

As Dante and Randal wait in line to see Julie Dwyer's casket, Dante recalls the time he was caught by Julie's parents while he and Julie had oral sex. When the two arrive at the casket, they question the choice of Julie's funeral clothing (a tube top), and Randal decides he's bored and wants to go to the car. Dante throws him the keys, but Randal misses the catch and the keys fall into Julie's pants. Dante reaches into the pants to find the keys while Randal rubs his shoulders, making it seem like Dante is upset. Julie's father pushes Randal out of the way and, after seeing Dante's actions, pounces on him. Randal is then pushed by Mrs. Dwyer and bumps into Julie's casket, which topples over, as does Julie's body. Randal catches the keys as they fly into the air, and he and Dante run out abruptly.