Clerks 2

Year Released: 2006

Date Reviewed: 3/02/08

Genre: Comedy

Rating: R

Average User Rating:

C-

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Synopsis:

Clerks II attempts to pickup where the first one left off, with our two major characters stuck in yet another dead end job working at the local burger shack, Mooby's.  The Quick Stop, Dante's original store, had burned down along with the video store.  Some of the characters from the first film are back as well.  The originality of the first film is missing though.  Rosario Dawson is brought into the film, playing a girl who would never work at a Mooby's style establishment, yet alone be attracted to a loser such as Dante.  What made the original so entertaining was the lack of hope for these characters, the serenity they attained by discussing Darth Vader for hours on end while bitching about customers and the fact that they hated but accepted their lot in life.

The Freak's Rating: C- : In 1994 I graduated high school and made my way about 160 miles south of my hometown to Southern Illinois University (home of the Salukis).  SIU was known as a party school and actually voted the #1 such school in 1993.  It is a wonder that my parents allowed me to enroll, especially since the two of them attended!  Regardless, I had a great 4-5 years in Carbondale, IL.

At SIU, I attended some film classes, on the basics of filmmaking, the suspension of disbelief and film appreciation.  Though I loved those times, some of the best times there were spent working at and managing a video store.

In 1996, I found a gem in Carbondale known as Pick A Flick Video.  Pick A Flick was run by an everyday guy who hosted parties at his place for employees and their respective others.  His name was Mike.  Mike was the kind of guy who would buy Playstations for the employees and let them work it off.

I had never seen Clerks when I took the job as an employee at Pick A Flick and was quickly forced by fellow employees to take it home.  I was expected to present a full review the day after.  If you have ever worked retail, see Clerks.  You'll be able to relate to it on a level that those who haven't will never be able to.  Clerks was the story of Dante and Randal.  Dante ran a convenience store and Randal ran the video store next door.  The two spent the bulk of the movie talking about their customers and the insanity that working retail can drive you into.  The director, Kevin Smith, had also penned the film, writing some of the sharpest and hilarious dialogue ever brought to the screen.  Clerks contained a wake, a hockey game on a roof top, a sex scene with a dead guy and a hysterical discussion about dating someone who has...well, been around...a lot!  Jay & Silent Bob take a foothold as the most entertaining drug dealers to hit the screen and supporting roles by the best stereotypical customers ever filmed make it a true cinematic gen.  I must have seen the film 20 times the first year I heard of it, at least a dozen since.  So you can imagine my excitement when I heard that the gang would be back together for a sequel.

The film does a great job of exploiting the annoyances of those who have worked fast food as well.  I can never understand why people go to McDonald's and just stare at the menu for minutes.  McDonald's has had the same menu items for years, you should know what to order already!  Regardless of the accuracy of the customer stereotypes in the film, Clerks II tries too hard to be a successor and is really just a retread of the original, with about half the laughs.