I have to admit I was a little disappointed when I heard Kevin Smith was making a sequel to his 1994 breakout film, Clerks. Let me explain.
I first saw Clerks at an art-house theatre in Waterloo in my first year of university. I had been working clerk-ish jobs for about 5 years, and I could relate to everything that I saw on screen: the annoying customers, the surly co-workers, the getting screwed into working way more than you should. In an age when "American Indy" film was plagued by people making Hollywood-seque narratives with no-name actors, Clerks truly was different, edgy and in your face. People talked like people I knew and talked about things my friends (mostly) talked about. In a film (the only one up until then and possibly since) given the kiss-of-death NC-17 rating solely for dialogue- no guns, no sex, no (discernible) nudity- I found charatcers I knew. I went tohighschool with a number of Randalls, guys who would say literally anything in order to shock people and then claim not to understand why other people found it offensive.
Since Clerks Smith has had his share of hits and misses, most of which take place in Smith's fictional world (or "Askewniverse). His next flick, Mallrats was trashed by critics, flopped at the box office but has found its niche on home video and DVD. Chasing Amy, Smith's "apology film", was a return to the edgier content of Clerks, this time with professional actors and a more competent Smith at the helm. Independently financed, Chasing Amy is my personal favourite of Smith's work, a postmodern love story about a boy in love with a girl who likes girls. Then there were the Jay and Silent Bob driven Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the former a (mostly) thoughtful examination of religion and faith, the later a masturbatory fluff piece replete with star cameos, none-to-subtle references to previous films, and lots of fourth wall breaking *wink-wink* glances to the audience. 2004's Jersey Girl marked a directional shift in Smith. This was the first of his films to exist outside the Askewniverse, a world Smith claimed to be putting to bed. With an enviable cast, including the frequently used Affleck and George Carlin, Liv Tyler, Jason Biggs (that pie-f#*$er) and Jennifer Lopez. The film is solid, but ultimately weak: a romantic comedy with a cute child. Its poor performance at the box-office can be blamed as much on the media's overexposure of "Bennifer" as anything else. Jersey Girl is no Gigli, but after that steaming pile of horse crap, people avoided anything that had those two sharing screen time. But the film, inspired by Smith's new role as father, showed maturity and promise. There was talk of a Smith-helmed Fletch movie (which sounded great but feel through) and he seemed to be turning his attention new stories. But then he announced his next film would be a sequel to his first film, then titled "Passion of the Clerks." And I wondered if Smith, like Dante and Randall, is doomed to a repetive existence, stuck in the same deadend role, film after film.
So, what make Smith return to the Askewniverse that established him as a creative force after claiming it had run its course? Was it the failure of the Jersey Girl> Was it the promise to the recovering Jason Mewes that if he stayed clean he could play Jay one more time? Was it, as Smith said, that he simply fell in love with the Clerks characters all over again while putting together the Tenth Anniversary DVD? Whatever the reason, Clerks II was made. And, for the most part, I'm glad that it was.
The real stand out in this film is Rosario Dawson. She's absolutely perfect. So incredibly beautiful, yet so down to earth. A non-made up beauty you really can find in the real world. You can see her working in a dead-end job and you can totally see Dante falling for her. While Brian O'Hallaran and Jeff Anderson are very good in their roles, Rosario has a lot of different things to convey in her scenes. She does it every time, from dancing on the rooftop, to trying to act tough, to fragility. I've heard that Ms Dawson doesn't think of herself as a sex-symbol. While to limit her to that role would be gravely short-sighted, she is very sexy.
Clerks II is not Clerks, but then it shouldn't be. You can't go home. Or, you can, but you'll find that your mom's thrown out your comic books and Reservoir Dogs posters and turned your room into a sewing room. If you go expecting things to be different, and allow for those changes you might be surprised. Make no mistake, the dialogue is as raw and disgusting as ever, but there's sweetness and gentleness beneath the bestiality jokes here that I'm afraid will go unseen by the Mallrats-loving potheads or the uppity conservative filmgoers who will avoid this film all together. But that's always been Smith's major limitations: he's hardly ever recognized for the sum of his talents. His capital-P Potty mouth often alienates people who would appreciate the intelligence and subtly of his work. Where else are you going to get an extended donkey sex scene in the same movie that gives you a whimsical dance number?
This is the celebration of Smith's world that Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back should have been: no crass mugging for the camera, no celebrity whoring (except for that Affleck cat, but given his importance to the Askewniverse he deserves to be there). In the final scene, a touching nod to Clerks with Smith's friend, "the Lon Chaney of the 90s," Walt Flanagan orders a pack of smokes from Dante. The colour fades. We're back in the world of Black and White, customers and clerks. People know what they want here, unlike at Moobey’s where everything has to be contemplated about and translated. The camera pulls back down the aisle of the Quickie Mart, leaving the clerks at the counter. Things are well in the world.
We can leave the store now.
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