Clerks (1994) – 6.5/10 – Funny situations bathed in randomness and absurdity
Overall
Clerks is a comedy satire that has become an all-time cult movie. I didn’t plan to watch this, but I was scrolling through my watchlist. The runtime was 90 minutes. I wasn’t in the mood for a long movie (I’m seldom in the mood for a 3-hour movie these days). So here we are—Clerks. I had zero expectations or ideas about the content. Many people love director Kevin Smith, but I never cared enough to go searching for his movies. While Clerks made me laugh plenty of times, that type of humor isn’t for me. Between jokes, I zoned out occasionally and experienced boredom like the main characters. Someone told me that one should be high to appreciate this movie, which I obviously wasn’t. If you enjoyed Clerks, don’t read this review further. Regardless, this marked his break into Hollywood, and he did well for himself. My rating is 6.5/10.
Plot (spoiler-free)
Dante works behind the counter of a small convenience store in New Jersey. His boss tells him to come in on his off-day. Soon after, everything that could go wrong goes wrong. Problems with the store frustrate him. Customers arrive with their stories and nonsense that aggravate him. Dante’s loser friend, Randal from the next-door video rental shop, comes to hang out with him. He learns his ex-girlfriend is getting married, and his current girlfriend reveals her promiscuous past love life. Her ex-boyfriend also shows up at the store. It’s just disaster after disaster, and that’s where the comedy lies.
Technicals
Clerks is an okay film, but the humor didn’t always resonate with me. The originality, witty dialogue, presentation, and direction are well-done. Dante faced hilarious, surprising circumstances that arose in the store. The situations were original, random, and unexpected. Presentation and timing are usually key to comedy, and that works here. As for the jokes, they worked both because of their delivery and crude nature. The best part of this film is that they talk of other films (okay, okay, I’m kidding…somewhat). No, it’s the fact that they made this for $27,000. Given the measly budget, I think it’s awesome, but I don’t judge movies by their budgets. Perhaps I expect too much, but I can only judge what I see. The acting from non-actors was below average, which follows the art of realism. I felt little from the acting (excused by the low budget). The technicals, including camerawork, cinematography, and setting, didn’t stand out to me (excused by the low budget). With a weak atmosphere, the limited plot appeared thin and uninspiring (excused by the low budget). There is no takeaway message or depth of morals (excused by the low budget). Well, you get the point for the technical stuff. If the punchlines and dialogue had failed, I would have stopped watching this 10 minutes in, which didn’t happen.
Would I recommend this?
If you can tolerate ninety minutes of people absurd bickering and no plot, this movie’s a blessing in disguise. And the dialogue content and random situations that occur out of the blue keep you entertained. Otherwise, I say no. I don’t understand the cult hype here. I tried hard to see more, but perhaps it takes booze or acid to get more. Having viewed around 1,700 movies, I don’t know where this would rank. Would it break into my top 1,000 list? Yes, but let’s leave it there.
*Obtained trivia facts from IMDb’s trivia page and plot/basic history/name information from Wiki
