Day
176 Clerks
[1994]
Screenplay Kevin Smith
Director Kevin Smith
Cinematography David Klein
Music Benjie
Gordon
Leads Brian
O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigiliotti, Lisa Spoonauer, Jason Mewes,
Kevin Smith, Walt Flanagan, Ernest O’Donnell, Scott Schiaffo
Production View Askew Productions
IMDb 7.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes 88%
I
love this film. It’s so simple, so quotable and a brilliant example of the
indie generation of film. Kevin Smith made this film with only $27,575, filming
it in the convenience store and video store that he worked at in real life. It’s
structured in mini episodes over the course of a day in the life of the two
clerks, Dante (O’Halloran) and Randal (Anderson). It’s hard to explain why this
film is so good. The acting is amateurish, and it looks like it was filmed on a
mobile from the early 2000s. Credit has to go for Smith for his writing. It
perfectly captures the feelings of the youth of that day without being up its
own ass. The humour is so dry that if you aren’t concentrating it will go right
past you. Lines such as ‘you’re living in denial and suppressing rage
motherfucker’ are delivered just right and others such as ‘she died
mid-backstroke’ are slipped into conversation as if commonplace. Smith uses
words intelligently such as when Dante is in conversation with his girlfriend
Veronica (Ghigliotti) he says he is making a broad generalisation and her
retort is that Dante is actually making a generalisation about broads. It’s
basic, pithy lines such as this which make Clerks a cult classic. Let’s not
forget about Jay (Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith himself), the drug dealers who
appear to be miscreants for the entire film, but then have relationship advice
for Dante far beyond their years. It’s a film that deserves its cult status,
and I’m sure there are many like it that didn’t make a name for themselves.
Kudos to Smith and his cast for proving Hollywood isn’t all about big money and
stars.
Acting 3 / 4
Writing 3.5 / 4
Cinematography 3 / 4
Music 1.5 / 4
HWF rating 3.5 / 4
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