Clerks

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Disappointment!, 2008-12-29
I don't remember too much about this movie (speaks volumes) other than the fact that it was boring and the c-rate actors over-rehersed their lines. The latter flaw took me awhile to pick up on, but once I did it was all I could focus on! I can't imagine sitting through this twice!

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

3 stars out of 4, 2008-12-18
The Bottom Line: br / br /The acting is raw and the direction is primitive, but Clerks manages to overcome its flaws simply by being funny and well-written--it's not a great movie, but it's definitely worth watching if you enjoy ribald humor.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

37, 2008-11-24
-------------- br /[first lines] br /Dante Hicks: [phone rings and Dante falls out of a closet] Hello. What? No I don't work today, I'm playing hockey at two. br /===================== br / br /'Clerks' is the debut film of Kevin Smith, inspired by Richard Linklater's 'Slackers;' and it is the first movie in the 'View Askew' universe, a series of Kevin Smith films with interlocking characters and references. 'Clerks' is a student film financed with credit cards and loans from friends. An interesting bit of trivia is that the entire production cost only $26,000 and securing the rights to the music cost $27,000, more than the cost of making the film. With over 50% of the budget in the music, you'd think they'd have some really great songs, but you'd be wrong. Just run-of-the-mill punk and metal. br / br /-------------- br /Coroner: What kind of convenience store do you run here? br /===================== br / br /Based loosely on "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri, there are nine breaks in the movie to signify the nine rings of hell. Did I mention loosely? James Joyce's 'Ulysses' and the Coen Brothers' 'O, Brother, Where Art Thou?' were both based on Homer, and they were based loosely, I'd say--but to really say 'Clerks' is based on Dante's 'Inferno' is a bit of a stretch. br / br /-------------- br /Blue Collar Man: Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, but, uh, what are you talking about? br /Randal Graves: The ending of "Return of the Jedi". br /Dante Hicks: My friend here's trying to convince me that any independent contractors who were working on the uncompleted Death Star were innocent victims when it was destroyed by the Rebels. br /===================== br / br /The clerks in 'Clerks' are Dante and Randal. Dante is the slightly more responsible of the pair. Though he resents being forced to clerk at Quick Mart on his day off instead of playing hockey, as he was looking forward to, he soldiers on--albeit closing the store briefly to play an ad hoc game of hockey on the roof and to attend a funeral. Customers constantly interrupt his reveries. br / br /-------------- br /Cold Coffee Lover: What do you mean there's no ice? You mean I gotta drink this coffee hot? br /===================== br / br /Randal, who works at a nearby video store, is slightly less responsible. He embodies 'customer disservice' throughout. He leaves his video store because he wants to rent a video, a good video at a good video store--NOT the one he works at. The rest of the time he spends shooting the breeze with Dante at Quick Mart, or abusing his customers. br / br /-------------- br /Indecisive Video Customer: These are the same two movies! You weren't paying any attention! br /Randal Graves: No, I wasn't. br /Indecisive Video Customer: I don't think your manager would appreciate it if- br /Randal Graves: I don't appreciate your ruse, ma'am. br /Indecisive Video Customer: I beg your pardon? br /Randal Graves: Your ruse. Your cunning attempt to trick me. br /Indecisive Video Customer: I was only pointing out that you weren't paying any attention to what I was saying. br /Randal Graves: And I hope it feels good. br /Indecisive Video Customer: You hope *what* feels good? br /Randal Graves: I hope it feels so good to be right. There's nothing more exhilarating than pointing out the shortcomings of others, is there? br /Indecisive Video Customer: Well, this is the last time I rent here. br /Randal Graves: You'll be missed. br /===================== br / br /Kevin Smith actually worked at the Quick Mart where 'Clerks' was filmed, and he was only allowed to film at night. Thus, the shutters had to be drawn and the premise for this was that pranksters had put gum in the locks of the shutters. He makes a sign with shoe polish so people will know the store is open which leads to a running gag about how he smells like shoe polish. It wasn't funny the first time, and gets less so with each repetition. But that is how he rolls, improvising around obstacles and limitations. br / br /-------------- br /Dante Hicks: This is different, this is important. How many? br /[long pause as customer buys something] br /Dante Hicks: Well? br /Veronica Loughran: Something like... 36. br /Dante Hicks: What? Something like 36? br /Veronica Loughran: Lower your voice. br /Dante Hicks: Wait, what is that anyway, something like 36? Does that INCLUDE me? br /Veronica Loughran: Ummm... 37. br /Dante Hicks: I'm 37? br /===================== br / br /'Clerks' introduces the characters of Jay and Silent Bob, two drug dealers who hang around in front of the Quick Mart. Silent Bob is played by director Kevin Smith himself, and he says little, to allow motor mouth Jay more airtime. When he does speak on occasion, you listen. curious as to what he will finally say. br / br /-------------- br /Silent Bob: [His only line] 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. br /===================== br / br /Dante's dilemma, apart from him being dissatisfied with his station in life and being forced to clerk on his day off, is that he has a girlfriend but can't get his ex-girlfriend out of his mind. He has been communicating with her, and they may get back together again, but he is conflicted. br / br /-------------- br /Caitlin Bree: I'm offering you my body and you're offering me semantics. br /===================== br / br /'Clerks' is an interesting student film with loads of flaws--yet it has a certain charm and promises better things to come. The acting is terrible. No one is experienced, and it shows. But the real tragedy is that I wasn't even supposed to be here today. br / br /---------------- br /Dante Hicks: You know what the real tragedy about all this is? I'm not even supposed to be here today! br /======================= br / br /Clerks II (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition) (2006) br /Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) br /Dogma (1999) br /Chasing Amy - Criterion Collection (1997) br /Mallrats (Collector's Edition) (1995) br /Clerks (Collector's Series) (1994) br /Star Wars Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980 2004 Versions, 2-Disc Widescreen Edition) (1980) br /Star Wars Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983 2004 Versions, 2-Disc Widescreen Edition) (1983) br /Blue Velvet (1986) br /Slacker - Criterion Collection (1991) br / br /------------- br /Veronica Loughran: Hi, Randal. br /Randal Graves: Thirty-seven? br /Dante Hicks: Shut up! br /======================= br /

1 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Not funny., 2008-11-11
This movie is simply offensive! It would be better with Carlos Mencia or Bob Saget.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Utterly Impressive, 2008-11-11
Kevin Smith is a pretty amazing dude. From the quality of the film to the intense knowledge of the subject matter, the utter indie-ness of "Clerks" is apparent from the start. But when you really look into how Smith made this movie from the ground up, it makes the overall product that more amazing. Because not only is this a respectable indie effort, it's also a fantastic movie. br / br /Instead of following the romantic tropes that the plot seems it's going to follow, the film instead focuses on the character interactions, giving special attention to dialogue that, at the time this was release, was only really done in Tarantino films. Smith definitely set the bar for raunchy comedies to come, already developing a style that would later become an influence on one of my favorite comedy film makers of all time, Judd Apatow. br / br /But let's kill the comparisons, because Smith's work stands on its own. This day-in-the-life-of-a-store-clerk film has great insight onto that profession and the different, hardened states of mind that clerks develop after day after day of the same crap from customers. The characters are wonderful, the conflicts and plot points are so subtle and underplayed that you might miss them if you don't watch close, and the highly quotable dialogue really pulls you into the film. It's like one of those vulgarly fantastic books that you just can't put down. br / br /8/10