Clerks II

Director: Kevin Smith
Screenwriter: Kevin Smith
Starring: Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Jennifer Schwalbach, Rosario Dawson, Trevor Fehrman
Running time: 95 mins

Clerks II takes place a decade on from the events of the first film, the 1994 black and white shock hit which launched director Kevin Smith’s career. After the Quick Stop goes up in smoke, Dante Hicks (O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Anderson) take their services to burger joint Mooby's, performing an equally dead-end job. Jay (Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith himself) also follow them to deal drugs outside the store.

We see the pair continue to indulge in inane and profane banter and be generally irresponsible employees on Dante's last day, before he moves away to settle down with fiancé Emma (Smith's wife Schwalbach), despite really being in love with the restaurant manager Becky (Dawson).

The lewd humour (often coming across as American Pie, but witty) is still at the forefront for most of the movie, with conversations about matters of controversial sexual etiquette mixing with The Lord of the Rings v.s. Star Wars arguments, climaxing with the love between a leather-clad man and a donkey. It's not really one for the easily offended, and the humour is a mixed bag, with not all of the material quite coming up to scratch – Jay and Silent Bob's presence often seems contrived.

Whereas the first movie was more or less a string of filthy yet funny jokes with no real sentiment behind them, this slightly more mature version has more of a message. The situation, with the pair looking forward to a new era after Quick Stop which never starts, and the two friends being torn asunder, makes you care about the characters. This is all the more impressive since none of them, apart from the wonderful Rosario Dawson, are too good on the acting front.

Fans of the first film will no doubt leave this film satisfied, and perhaps even a little touched as well as amused.




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