User reviews

Kevin Smith has delved into action ("Mallrats"), drama ("Chasing Amy") and philosophy ("Dogma") in his Askewniverse, but Clerks, the first film of the series, is still the best.

Shot on a ridiculously low budget, using mostly friends and relatives as the cast and crew (see the line in the credits where "Boom" is credited as "whoever happened to be holding the pole"), "Clerks" is such a great film just because it doesn't try to be more than it is. You get the sense that this movie is in black and white not to be pretentious, but just because it's a prosaic look at prosaic lives.

Kevin Smith's real gift is writing funny, witty dialogue, and that's what carries this film. From Star Wars debates (did the destruction of the second Death Star in "Jedi" cost innocent contractors their lives?) to perfectly serious debates about sex ("Thirty-seven???"), this is the ultimate movie for anyone who's ever been going nowhere and doing nothing. It's a day in the life of the guy working at the corner store, no more, no less. But it's absolutely brilliant.

People either love or hate Kevin Smith movies. Chances are, if you can appreciate the humour of low-brow jokes about pornography as high art, then you'll enjoy "Clerks". His brand of humour isn't for everyone. This is his first film and it's flawed, to be sure. But in my humble opinion, it's still Smith's best.

If you have seen American Pie and think of it as being honest and real about sex and the way kids talk, then Clerks is right up your alley. I don't think a movie has pleasantly shocked me more than this one has. And make no mistake about it, this is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.

By now we've all heard the story of how Kevin Smith somehow scrounged up $27000 to piece this rag tag film together. It was at a film festival and some film executive saw it and offered him a generous amount of money. They fixed it up and before you know it we have the best indie film ever made. Kevin Smith is now a recognizable name in Hollywood and that alone should make you want to see this film.

Dante and Randal are best friends. They work at a small convenience store and a crappy little video store respectively. As a matter a fact, the video store is so inept that Randall actually goes to one of the bigger video stores in town to rent his movies. Anyway, Dante is obsessed with his ex-girlfriend that cheated on him and he has a present girlfriend that is wonderful to him. That is the basic premise for the movie. And that is all you need to know about the plot. Because what the film is really about is how these characters really talk to each other. It is a bunch of clever anecdotes pieced together hilariously to form a movie. But some of the scenes are just so damn funny that Clerks stays with you for a long long time.

Take for instance a scene where Dante and his girlfriend are discussing the various responsibilities of a man and a woman in sex. Each has an obvious gender biased view of the act but listen to how honest it is written, it gives meaning and much hilarity to the scene. From here, the two end up discussing how many people the other has slept with. And we all know that is an absolute no no in relationships. Because no matter how many or how little the number is, it is too much. But that would be too easy for Smith to end it at that. No, he takes it a step further. From here Veronica ( the girlfriend ) explains that she has only slept with X amount of guys but she has gone down on 36 others. Dante is mortified. How can she do that? And she explains that when she "does it" it means more than when she goes down and that is supposed to make him feel better. It of course doesn't and the pay off in the scene is brilliant as Veronica is walking back to her car. And that is just one of the scenes that makes the film work. There are dozens of other scenes similar in nature that are so humourous yet painfully honest that you laugh but when the giggles subside, you realize that it is so true.

The obvious strength of this film is the writing. But beyond that, Smith establishes himself as a director that can get a performance out of his actors. Almost every major character in here is so well done that you think they had 20 attempts to get it perfect instead of the 3 or 4 that the budget would allow. Dante is well played by O'Halloran but it is Anderson as Randle that I think steels the picture. He is so honest and natural in every scene that he is in that it actually bothers me that he has not established himself in the game. Is it because no one wants to give him a role or is it that he has no interest in movies? I don't know, I just wish he was around again because he is electric.

Jay and Silent Bob are funny as well and Bob provides the film with one of the funnier moments as he dances out of nowhere and then he shocks us with his only line of the film. And what he says may as well be Socrates talking and not a simple street hood. It really works.

I love Clerks. It is such a fun movie and if you haven't seen this gem, check it out. Like it for the funny film that it is, but love it for whats behind it.

This film has heart. And Smith is an inspiration to anyone that wants to do what he did. After all, he proves that nothing is impossible. He is living proof of that.

Everyone has to start somewhere. Kevin Smith started his popular Jay and Silent Bob series with Clerks., a $50,000 film whose soundtrack cost more than the actual movie cost to make. It's poorly done, it's monochromatic (which actually works to its advantage), it's cheap, but it's funny, and that's all that really counts. The story is more than I thought it would be, and it's continuously funny throughout the whole short runtime. Many of the crude adventures of Dante and Randal are now legendary.

Dante (Brian O'Halloran) works at the Quick Stop convenience store. He's called in on a day off. His friend Randal (Jeff Anderson) works next door at a video store, but sporadically closes it to hang out at the Quick Stop. Throughout the day, various things occur, such as a gum representative trying to get people to stop smoking and chew his gum, a rabbi using the employee's bathroom (with an unexpected twist at the end), disrupting a wake, and the now-classic scene at the video store with "Happy Scrappy Hero Pup".

This movie has non-stop humor going for it. Whether it's Dante's or Randal's confrontations with the unruly customers (who seem over-the-top yet regular), their conversations about nothing (especially Star Wars), or their departures from their respective stores to play hockey or whatnot. I can see that Clerks. is to minimum wage earners as Office Space is to office workers. Dante's always a little timid when it comes to dealing with the unruly customers, but when Randal takes the stage, it's a lot funnier.

Although the parts about Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti) and Cairlin (Lisa Spoonhauer) weren't that interesting (except for the 36...make that 37 people), they were necessary, and seemed to create a plot out of this, basically, sketch comedy. It succeeded, and turned it into a great all around film. Most of these people had never acted before, and although it does seem like they're just reciting their lines (there's almost no break in between the dialogue), they do a good job at it. Sometimes it seems a little too scripted (for voice and diction, etc.), but for a bunch of first-timers, it's not bad at all.

Considering the rest of the series (besides Mallrats, which I haven't seen), I'd say Clerks. is close with Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back for the funniest Kevin Smith movie. They're also the two crudest, and the first and last in the series, respectively. But Clerks. will always stay as it was when it was released 10 years ago-revolutionary. It showed that money and action aren't important to make a movie funny.

My rating: 8/10

Rated R for extensive use of extremely explicit sex-related dialogue.

Clerks is one of those movies everyone knows everything about even before they've seen it. The most fascinating aspect is probably the back-story: Kevin Smith sold his comic-book collection to finance it, shot it in the convenience store where he was working at the time, and cast his school friends in the various roles (two of them wound up playing three or four characters each). The film became a huge hit at Sundance, and is now widely (and justly) considered one of the best independent movies of all time.

The plot is quite easy to sum up: nothing happens. It's just a "regular" day in the lives of a few people working in or outside a Quick Stop convenience store. The fun starts immediately, as Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) is asked to replace a sick colleague. This upsets him a lot, since it's supposed to be his day off ("You know what the worst part is? I'm not even supposed to BE here today!"). So now he has to serve a bunch of rather annoying or excessively weird people, with occasional help from his friend Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson), who "works" in the video store next to Quick Stop. Together, they discuss things like hermaphroditic porn or, Tarantino-style, which Star Wars sequel is better (Jedi or Empire?), and also try to find ways of not working, or at least make the day less boring (as Randal puts it:"This job would be great if it wasn't for the f**king customers"). Between these discussions, they also interact with Dante's present girlfriend Veronica (whose sex life causes heated debates) and ex Caitlin, who's apparently engaged to some Asian design major. And let's not forget Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith himself), two drug dealers consistently located outside the store.

Smith uses these characters to reference his favorite movies (the previously mentioned Star Wars, as well as Jaws and Indiana Jones) and talk about any subject in the filthiest way imaginable. Some incredibly outrageous stuff is mentioned ("jizz moppers", necrophilia, "snowballing"), but unlike John Waters, he never shows the events discussed by Dante, Randal et al. Everything occurs, or has occurred, off-screen, so all we get to do is have a good laugh, because no matter how crude it gets (the film is rated R for "Extensive Use Of Extremely Explicit Sex-Related Dialogue"), Smith's writing remains genuinely funny. Randal, in particular, steals every scene with his existential musings ("I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class. Especially since I rule.") or very politically incorrect antics (the top? Reading a list of pornographic flicks in front of a mother and her baby).

If you haven't seen it yet, do it, and fast: Clerks fully deserves its cult status. It has priceless dialogue, wisecracking characters and loads of swearing. What else can you ask for?

This has to be my all time favorite comedy and one of my all time favorites overall. About three years ago a friend of mine came to school one day raving about the funniest movie he had seen on late night. He talked about this black and white low budget movie about two blue collar losers who talked endlessly about sex. From that description I wasn't anticipating a masterpiece but I decided to rent it anyway. It was probably the best surprise I have ever had. I was laughing the entire time, so much so that I nearly woke up everyone in my house. For months afterwards my friend and I would endlessly talk about and quote this incredible film. Everyone I have recommended it to has loved it and I can easily see why. I know that some people attack the movie as being vulgar and excessive. The way I see it it is being true to life (I'm sure that when you have 10 hours to kill you'll talk about the average pay of a gizz mopper). In short I absolutely love this film and it gets better and better with every viewing. Rent this film as soon as possible if you haven't already.

In 1994, an ambitious filmmaker named Kevin Smith was left nearly dead-broke by his commitment to his low-budget debut feature, "Clerks." Shot in black & white and filmed in and around a New Jersey convenience store, "Clerks." is genius on celluloid despite little change of scenery, wooden acting (none of the actors are professionals), and a shoe-string budget; it's also pretty damn funny. "Just because they serve you, doesn't me they like you" became an immortal tagline for one of the best independent comedies of all time, which also launched the career of its director. There's nothing PC about this debut feature, and the relentlessly explicit sex-related dialogue got the film its original certificate, the dreaded "NC-17" rating, which was later dropped down to an "R" rating on a successful appeal by the filmmakers; the characters harass their customers, leave the store during the day to tend to personal matters, and hang-out with girlfriends - not the stuff of responsible employees - and definitely NOT something you would see in any Hollywood production today. In an era rife with censorship and political-correctness, "Clerks." would undoubtedly receive the scorn and protests of the fundamental religious Right and Left. The film features Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson), two bored New Jersey convenience store employees who are both called in on a Saturday (Dante is especially upset because it's his day off) and the two break every rule in the book as they meander through the day and encounter all sorts of colorful characters. Throughout the day, Dante complains about about his girlfriend Veronica's (Marilyn Ghigliotti) sex life, Randal shirks his convenience store duties by shooting the breeze with Dante, philosophize about their daily predicaments, play hockey on the roof of the store, and observe unruly and bizarre shoppers. There's little plot but it's pure fun all the way to the ending with plenty of laughs too. But if you're the sensitive type, you should stay as far away from "Clerks." as possible, as the dialogue will certainly make you squirm in your seat. "Clerks." also contains many Smith trademarks including "Star Wars" talk, references to Spielberg movies, comic books and hockey, all qualities of which would do Smith good in his so-called "New Jersey Trilogy." P.S.: Watch out for Smith in his iconic role as Silent Bob with sidekick Jay (Jason Mewes) as they loiter outside the store and hassle customers.

10/10

I am very biased on the 9 rating i gave this movie. I could have even given it a 10 for I am, and for a long time has been a clerk. This movie to me was as moving and compelling as Passion of the Christ was for some Catholic people i know. In fact, in some moments, it even brought me to tears. The film is about a guy who works in a convenience store. He comes across the weirdest and most annoying customers that, ironically, don't shy too far from those in real life that I, myself have come across. This clerk is visited by his girlfriend and regularly visiting by his distraught and careless friend who is a clerk at the neighboring video store. If you aren't a clerk, and you watch this movie, remember this: This movie is as true to form as it gets. Some people claim it to be one of the best comedies of the past decade. I say it's the best Documentary of all time.

Why claim ultra-budget movies as being the "best film ever" when you can see some guys with almost no scenary and a very low budget make a great movie that is intelligent, funny, has a good soundtrack AND is well done at the same time? Not to mention the autoral thing. It's the kind of movie that makes me think "hey, I wish I'd made this movie... and I could!" : ) --- PS: I call it life savior cause I quit my job as a clerk on the most chic CD store in my town, and couldn't figure out why. When I saw this movie I found out and recovered the trust in my self.

Clerks is simply a day in the life of two friends, Dante and Randal, who work side by side in a convenience store/videostore. Throughout the movie, we see how they treat customers, how they view their lives, and how they view pop culture. Clerks is not worth the hype it receives, but it most certainly deserves everyone's respect.

After hearing for ages that Clerks is an amazing movie and it's one of the funniest movies out there, and with the recent release of Clerks II, I decided to check Clerks out. I was let down to say the least. It was slow moving, even boring in parts. I didn't find it nearly as funny as I heard it was. There were only three points in the movie where I laughed hard. Through the rest of the movie, I just kind of chuckled. I chuckled because the entire concept of the movie was amusing. Two clerks that talk and act like the smartest people in the world, when really, why are they working at a convenience store? The reason I said you need to respect this movie is because Kevin Smith and all the people involved are nobodies, just a bunch of friends who got together with $20,800, and a camera and shot a cheap movie that became a cult classic.

Clerks wasn't the great film I heard it was, but it certainly shot Kevin Smith into super stardom, and the "New Jersey" films he's made since have gotten better due to this experience. Clerks got a few chuckles out of me, and it had some classic dialogue, but overall it was a little dull. I recommend that anyone who likes the other "New Jersey" films views this one first.

6.5/10

Funny, fast paced story of an assortment of pathetic losers, their dreams, girlfriends, and go nowhere lives. I laughed all the way through at the give and take between the two lead characters and their stupid friends and lovers. Both intelligent, sometimes even sagely; the two men lead lives of loneliness and boredom leading to a careless attitude about their jobs which, in time, will become their position on all things unless they choose to reverse the course they are following. I was groaning with glee as the store clerk had it out with his lady friend over how many men she had fellatio with. I liked the way the film was broken up into titled parts, each comprising a small story within the tale. Zany, well worth the price of entry.

On his day off, the clerk of a convenience store Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) is summoned by his boss to be the substitute for his coworker that is ill. He is worried since he has a hockey game. Along the day, his friend Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) that works in a video store on the next door stays most of the time with Dante. He is visited by his girlfriend Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti) that discloses intimacy to him; he learns that his former girlfriend Caitlin Bree (Lisa Spoonauer); he gives a break and plays the hockey game with Randal; he goes with Randal to a wake. Meanwhile the drug dealers Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) sells drugs on the sidewalk.

In 1994, the low-budget "Clerks" is a milestone to the career of Kevin Smith. Divided in nineteen chapters in black-and white, using a few locations and with unknown cast, the witty "Clerks" is a very funny comedy even twenty-two years after its release. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Balconista" (The Clerk")

I see I am clearly in the minority here and it wouldn't be the first time, but I just didn't find this movie all that entertaining. Maybe this movie has a cult following that I don't get.

Firstly, the acting was atrocious. Now, that could have been the intent, but if so, I never got that impression. The dialogue was delivered so mechanical, most times it seemed like the actors were reading directly from cue cards.

Secondly, this movie had no direction. Where was this movie going? Again, maybe I missed the intent, but was it just to capture the dull and pathetic life of a clerk and those around him? I don't expect every movie to have a mighty and life altering message, but at least have a loftier aim than go to work, have a screwed up day and go home.

Finally, there was entirely too much profanity. It was to the degree that it had no more impact. If vulgarity is going to be used, then using it sparingly can make it funnier and have more of an impact on the script. The flagrant use of profanity in this movie just made the movie juvenile and childish.

Overall the movie just didn't move me. I laughed very little, there was nothing to think about, and there were no magnificent or even decent performances. I did like one scene though, and that was the different take on "The Return of the Jedi". I thought that was an interesting and funny take on the movie, but I also think that-that could have been done in a short film. Cut this movie down to a five minute short film about the innocent independent contractors on the Death Star and the movie is a lot better in my opinion.

Clerks (1994)

**** (out of 4)

Kevin Smith's cult classic about a two store clerks (Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson) who have nothing to do except be bored and deal the cards life gives them. It's hard to believe this film is now fourteen-years-old as it seems just like yesterday when it made a splash on the indie circuit. This was my first time watching this in at least six or seven years and it hasn't lost any of its magic. I still think Smith hit on something truly great in the fact that he manages to take this type of job and show all the hassles and frustration that comes with it. I believe it was Roger Ebert's review that mentioned movies never deal with jobs unless the job is that of a cop, robber or something like that yet here we get to see the life of a clerk who is stuck at a job he hates and surrounded by people that can't really add too much to his life. The real key here of course is Smith's screenplay, which I'd call downright brilliant. To have 90-minutes of nothing but dialogue speaks a lot for his screenplay as it remains so constantly entertaining with the majority of the jokes working. The politically incorrect nature of the humor from the "37" to various other sexual things is downright hilarious and that includes the surprise in the bathroom. The performances in the film have taken a lot of unfair heat in my opinion because while they aren't perfect I do think they fit the roles just fine and mixed with the B&W it makes the film seem all the more like a documentary.

"Clerks" can be realistically related to, and is funny which is why it's a great movie. The low budget is irrelevant to how enjoyable the movie is. It's the amazing script that made the movie, and some solid acting with some excellent deliveries.

It's Unreal!

Rarely is a script so clearly the star of a movie, but "Clerks" is clearly a product of the unique mind behind it, Kevin Smith. This is a filmmaking debut with a clear idea of what it wants to say and how it wants to say it, namely in the form of casual conversation that ranges from profane to profound.

The vessels by which these thoughts and ideas are delivered go by the names of Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson), 22-year-old New Jersey convenience and video store clerks, respectively, who are pals despite drastically different attitudes toward their "dead-end" jobs. The film predominantly follows Dante over the course of a day at the Quick Stop, a day that he was never supposed to work in the first place. In addition to persistent stop- ins from Randal, he is visited by/chats with his girlfriend, Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti), grapples with the news about of a couple other ex-girlfriends and deals with a host of unusual customers, not to mention the shady characters who hang out outside the store including Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith).

"Clerks" plays out as "scenes at a convenience store" for the majority of its runtime to the point that it could've been a play and almost worked just as well. Film, however, feels more fitting; there's something about the context of this actual dinky convenience store location and the way Smith carefully selects his shot angles in each scene (shot in black and white) that brings everything together. The "theater" would betray the down-to-earth New Jersey reality of it all, even though so much of the film centers on dialogue.

What Smith is able to convey in a series of conversations, most filmmakers have to construct elaborate scenes in order to communicate. He can take a conversation about blowjobs or something even more inane and turn it into something much bigger. That's a hell of a skill. The only pitfall is that none of the actors can reel in the cleverness and timing of Smith's words. In some scenes the acting sort of just dissipates leaving only dialogue – these poor actors have to make these quip-filled exchanges sound like natural banter between minimally educated middle-class slackers.

Nevertheless, the script carries "Clerks" to the notoriety Smith has earned over the last couple decades. It's an entertaining tennis match of dialogue that's sharp, occasionally satirical and most importantly, taps into the core of what young people struggling to do something with their lives all feel. And he doesn't just go there with the conversations; he illustrates it in the various seemingly mundane dilemmas and conflicts Dante encounters through the course of his day.

Maybe most significantly of all, Smith speaks for the outcast in "Clerks." He speaks for the guy living in his parents' basement, the guy working a convenience store job, the guy who spends his days loitering outside convenience stores or playing street hockey and other characters society frowns upon for not "doing anything with their lives." He points out that despite their disregard for societal protocols, they still have smart things to say and above all, like "the rest of us," still yearn for meaning in their lives.

~Steven C

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I'm 31 years old and I STILL watch Clerks at least once a year. It's a glimpse into my own past as well as a reminder to always remember where I came from. Kevin Smith is clever and insightful, as well as crude enough to keep us coming back for more. I recommend any of his films, as well as the Clerks Cartoon and Comic book. If you've ever watched "An Evening with Kevin Smith" and then went back to Clerks, you would see how much Kevin Smith has grown as a Director. I just wish we could see more of the same genre, rather than go to glitz and glamour. Clerks is simple and has no pretense, but people turn up their nose at any movie that doesn't have special effects, big names, and a 100 million dollar budget. Keep in mind Kevin Smith used credit cards and his comic book collection to finance this Cannes Film Festival winner. If you haven't seen it, give it a try.

Clerks was Kevin Smith's first film it is one of my favorite movies it introduced two of the world's most recognizable characters (Jay and Silent Bob) with their first film debut as the dope dealers they are today. With Dante who's not even supposed to be there today and Randal who enjoys nothing more than torturing Dante. Jay (Jason Mewes)and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) are recurring characters in Smith's View Askewniverse they also appear in Mallrats,Chasing Amy (for one scene)Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and the soon to be released Clerks 2 this movie is a movie only meant probably for the age range of 15-22 because it says the F*** word over one hundred times if you have little kids DO NOT LET THEM WATCH THIS it might put ideas in their head that you don't want there.

Not just great dialogue but superb timing and delivery - an unshuttered view into the self derived complexities of adolescent adults trying to make sense of the comical world they inhabit (don't we all) including the wildly diverse and often quite obscure characters they encounter during their day.

Kevin Smith is a comic genius. The guy made a semi-autobiographical film about a store clerk and his buddy and it was one of the most original as well as inexpensive films to come along in a while. His writing is just so smart and sophisticated that he just always has us laughing our asses off. Th film was shot very cheap on 16 mm with non professional actors just friends of Smith. It created a cult audience for Smith and created two of the funniest duo of characters to come along in film. They are like C3P0 and R2-D2. One talks way too much and the other never speaks. Well, except for about 2 lines. The characters are obviously Jay and Silent Bob. Clerks is one of the smartest movies to come around in a long time. Excellent! I would give it about 8.5/10. B-rad is da Shiznit.

This movie had one of the smartest scripts in recent history, but it fell short of greatness, in my opinion, by its lack of any real acting skill the entire movie. Brian O'Halloran did a despicable job as Dante, and succeeded only in getting on my nerves. The supporting cast also lacked any real substance. I don't know why Kevin Smith allowed Mr. O'Halloran in the rest of his movies, unless it was to make fun of him in both Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Jason Mewes and Mr. Smith were wonderful as usual, but if you only want to see them you would do better to rent one of the others in the series. It was an okay start to a wonderful series of movies, I only wish the acting was a little better.

I don't know how pretentious a person has to be to NOT like this film. People slam it for all the things it can't help but being on a non- existent budget. Yes, the production value is low - they had no money! Yes, the acting is weak - they used all amateurs! Yes, the camera work is unimpressive - they had NO equipment! What is wrong with these critics? I've never even been on a movie set, but can tell what an accomplishment this film is for the budget. It made me laugh and it made most people laugh...that makes all the other stuff, based on the budget, forgivable. I am curious how a $27k budget is bulked up $200k in post and still look and sound the way it does...but I don't fault Kevin Smith for that. I just wish he was still making good movies.