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Clerks - Collector's Edition Customer Reviews (67 - 69 of 86 Reviews)

Director: Kevin Smith

Cast: Brian O'Halloran ... Dante Hicks
Jeff Anderson ... Randal Graves
Marilyn Ghigliotti ... Veronica Loughran
Lisa Spoonhauer ... Caitlin Bree
Jason Mewes ... Jay
Kevin Smith ... Silent Bob

Tagline: "Just because they serve you...doesn't mean they like you."

Plot Summary: Two guys spend a day at work in adjacent stores, and a lot of weird things happen.

Review and Comments: Like that summary? Very concise. The problem with writing a review of this movie is that what happens is an overview of a day at work for these two characters, and anything I say can and will ruin the jokes that make this film worth seeing. I'll attempt to apply my vast amounts of reviewing skill to this review in order to convince you why this movie is worth seeing WITHOUT giving away every single thing that happens.

So. Has anyone here ever worked a crappy, low-paying service job that required immense amounts of patience and customer service skills not to wring the necks of everyone that came into the place asking stupid questions? This movie is for you. Here lies a collection of anecdotes about all the things that can happen throughout the years working at a convenience store (and a video rental place) all set in the timeframe of one incredible day at work. The customers that ask stupid questions, the things that break and must be fixed, everything that can and will go wrong at once, it's all here. To give away the little things that happen would be to rob the viewer of the enjoyment of watching it happen, so I'll say no more. There are several exaggerated things that happen, comedic moments that we hope are fictional, but at its core what works about the comedy is that there are recognizable hilarious moments that we recognize if we've worked these kinds of jobs before.

Holding this film together, there is a relationship between the main character, Dante, (played by Brian O'Halloran) and his girlfriend Marilyn, (played by Veronica Loughran). Their relationship has lasted awhile, and they're hitting some rough spots in trying to see whether it should continue or end immediately. Most relationships hit such a spot, and the revelations they make to each other and the reactions that occur should be recognizable to anyone who's ever had a relationship that hit some rough spots ("I can't believe you never told me that..." "You're overreacting..."). Again, I'm not going to give anything away, but suffice it to say that much of the dialogue here is funny because it's true.

So throughout the day, strange things happen, the main characters react, and the relationship problems are discussed. The problems get worse, the tension mounts, and at the end, everything is resolved in such a way that the characters may or may not have learned something. The plot follows the standard film school outline, but the twist is that the whole story occurs in the midst of vignettes that follow the quirky things that can happen throughout a day at a customer service job (with a few fantastical, exaggerated situations) and the little stories are interwoven with the main character's dilemma in a way that I found highly entertaining.

The grainy, black and white style of this movie (slightly above surveillance camera quality...no joke) belies the small budget, but I found it effective. It may annoy a lot of people, though, so be forewarned. This movie doesn't look slick and polished. This movie is full of "inappropriate" language. Don't let your four-year-old watch this movie unless you want him to get kicked out or preschool for repeating the dialogue. Lots of people don't like this movie (or any of Smith's movies, come to think of it) because they complain that it has no plot and it's not funny-it's annoying. Keep that in mind. If you don't like the comedy, you won't like the movie.

The Bottom Line: I loved it.

Hilarious and insightful
I watched Clerks last night on video with my wife after putting it off for a couple of years. This is a very funny movie. There is no plot per se, but essentially the movie centers around Dante, the convenience store clerk who has no direction in life and dreams about dumping his girlfriend Veronica, who is combative but loyal and caring, for his ex-girlfriend Caitlin, who cheated on him repeatedly when they were dating. His buddy Randall, who works (sort of) at the nearby video store is the ultimate cool guy whose zen like observations about Dante's life are so on the mark. Clerks is filled with funny and vulgar exchanges that I cannot repeat here, ... . Also memorable is Silent Bob, played by the film maker Kevin Smith, who speaks only once but has the most profound line in the entire movie. The girl who plays Veronica reminded me of Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny. My favorite scenes: 1) the chewing gum salesman trying to turn kids off of cigarette smoking, 2) the man who wants to use the rest room, 3) Randall ordering porno flicks over the phone in the presence of a young lady and her daughter, and 4) Dante and Veronica talking about how many people they have been with and their argument that ensues from it. Clerks is a Gen-X classic best appreciated by high schoolers and those in their 20's, but even an old codger of 31 like myself can enjoy it too.

Great movie, but not a great DVD
My first viewing of "Clerks" was in a movie theatre, and I laughed so hard that I didn't even notice how bad it looked. It was made for $27000 and it shows. I think it's a great film and that homemade quality adds appeal, but it looks particularly cheesy on DVD. My main reason for giving this a mediocre 2 stars is the quality of the extras. The deleted scenes are just stuck on the disc, and the commentary track by Kevin Smith and cohorts is poorly recorded and for the most part uninsightful. It's funny in parts - particularly enjoyed hearing Smith belch and hiccup, and Jason Mewes snore - but really not for the reasons you'd expect. Still, I'd say buy the DVD if it weren't so damn expensive. The film cost about a nickel to make, and not much more was put into producing the DVD extras. This just isn't worth the money. IF you must own "Clerks," get the VHS version or wait for the price to come down on the DVD.