Clerks: The Joys of Working at the Quik-stop

Hello everybody! Today we have Kevin Smith’s raunchy comedy Clerks.

CLERKS

DIRECTOR: Kevin Smith

STARRING: Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Jason Mewes, Lisa Spoonhauer

GENRE: Black and White Comedy

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: United States

Dante Hicks is a clerk at a local convenience store in New Jersey. On one particular Saturday morning, he gets called in on his day off. Once there, he must deal with multiple problems. The shutters outside won’t open. His ex-girlfriend, whom he is still in love with, is getting married. His girlfriend, who bugs him about starting college, has revealed certain, uh…stuff about her past. His boss hasn’t come in to take his place. He has a hockey game at 2 o’clock. Another ex has died, and today’s the last day he can go to her wake. He must deal with customers that aren’t so intelligent. His friend, Randal, a clerk at the video store next door, is even less dedicated to his job than Dante, and is always bothering Dante’s customers. And the biggest problem of them all: HE’S NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE THERE TODAY!! Can Dante manage it all?

Clerks is one of the first independent films I have ever viewed and actually pushed me to watch more and more independents. This review is based after viewing Clerks a hundred times in the past few years. The humor and dialogue are quite funny (some of the conversations I could totally see my friends and I having). While at the Quik-Stop the story and mishaps are also very entertaining, despite what others may say.  Brian O’ Holloran and Jason Mewes performances are great, perfect examples of childhood friends just hanging out at work.

My issue with Clerks is that the film feels like it drags on forever. I will be watching for what seems an hour and a half and I have been only watching for 30 minutes! That is ridiculous. Also I feel that the film’s story lacks whenever they leave the Quik-Stop or the video store. Not to mention that it slows down even more when they are there. If you are in the mood to watch an incredibly slow yet hilarious movie, watch Clerks.

PROS:

• Main cast performances.
• Use of a single main location.
• Dialogue and banter.

CONS:

• Story becomes uninteresting when not at Quik-Stop.
• Some annoying reoccurring themes.
• Slow pacing.

SCORE: 7.5 / 10

If you have any suggestions for films/TV/Games/Music for me to review, drop me a comment! Remember: Like Media In Review @ https://www.facebook.com/MediaInReview?ref=hl Follow Media in Review @ https://twitter.com/Media_In_Review.