Clerks (1994)

Clerks (1994)

6/10

Starring

Brian O’Halloran

Jeff Anderson

Directed by Kevin Smith

Clerks is Kevin Smith’s first film, and it follows a day in the lives of two clerks—one manning a convenience store and the other a video rental store. Clerks is a good film, even though it was shot in black and white because Smith couldn’t afford to make it any other way. The black-and-white shooting gave the movie a certain feel, making it cool to watch. In fact, it came out cool enough to warrant a second part (not shot in black and white) over a decade later and a planned third part over a decade after that, as the first two were financially successful.

The movie helped launch Smith into the filmmaking business and introduced us to some characters who would later play roles in future Kevin Smith films.

The characters in this movie are one of a kind. We have Dante (Brian O’Halloran), who mans the convenience store. Dante is a tightly wound guy in a relationship with a woman named Veronica, but he’s still hung up on his ex, Caitlin Bree. Caitlin cheated on Dante multiple times when they were dating, but Dante still loves her more than he loves Veronica.

Then there’s Randal, the clerk at the video rental store. He’s an immature character who would rather live his life enjoying himself by pissing off customers than actually doing his job. He’s also Dante’s best friend, and you’ll find him at Dante’s store for about three-quarters of the movie.

The movie follows some bad decisions by Dante concerning his life and his day. His lack of attention when he should be focused and his total obsession with Caitlin drive much of the story.

We also get to see Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively) as they spend their day selling weed outside the store.

The movie has become a cult classic, and even though Kevin Smith almost went broke because of his desire to make it, things worked out well for him. He spent less than thirty thousand dollars of his own money to make this film, and it went on to make over three million at the box office.

From here, he launched his movie production company with his friend Scott Mosier, called View Askew Productions. Together, they’ve made many other movies—some hits and some misses.

Clerks is one of those movies you enjoy watching once and then save for another day, maybe years later, to give it another look.