CLERKS (1994) review, "37..."

PRESENT PAST TIME is a segment that I wish to dedicate to older releases that I believe are worth talking about, be it bad or good.

Just Because They Serve You, Doesn't Mean They Like You...

CLERKS is a 1994 film starring Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson and directed as well as written by Kevin Smith in his film début. The film gives us an insight into the lives of two clerks and friends working next door from one another, Dante Hicks and Randal Graves. (Played by O'Halloran and Anderson respectively.)

----------

Clerks still stands the test of time, being released over twenty years ago as of the passing October, it remains as one of my all time favourite comedies, providing consistent laughs and intrigue with every watch.

As aforementioned, Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson both share an equal amount of screen time in their distinct and charismatic characters. Dante is the reluctant Quick Stop worker who is called in when it's his day off after no one is there to cover the shift, with Randal being the opposite, a sleazy and crude yet charming who works at the store next door, RST Video. This is their first on-screen performances and frankly they play it naturally to the point where you would believe that they have been working the dead end job for years before and the years to come. Both O'Halloran and Anderson work off of each other so well in every scene they're in together, playfully bouncing dialogue between themselves with their own quips and in-jokes.

The fellow cast members add to the low-budget charm that is Clerks, primarily consisting of Smith's friends as well as relatives - whilst the acting is quite shoddy due to this, it provides as many unintentional laughs as well as intentional and it sells the passion that went into this film doing whatever they can to make ends meet.

"I'm not even supposed to be here today!"

The writing by Kevin Smith consists of some of the most witty and sharp dialogue that you could ever ask for from a comedy such as this that centres so heavily on said dialogue, the constant back and forth conversations and monologues from characters creates a sense of atmosphere within the film. You can sense the frustration of the characters with their jobs and aspirations with the writing, especially with Dante. It provides some serious laughs because of it's balance of natural dialogue but in exaggerated amounts, characters throwing paragraphs at each other in some pretty serious detail. It keeps you guessing as to what they could talk about next because of it's unpredictability and that only adds to it. Direction isn't fair to be criticised for the budget that the film had to deal with, (that being the astonishingly low $27,500) but to be noted is that Clerks is not a very good looking movie. It's entirely in black-and-white due to said budget constraints and in addition to this it looks really blurry as it was shot on 16mm film which really does hold it back visually. However, props as to how the crew and Smith managed to pull this off on the aforementioned shoe-string budget.

The score is unique to this film in that it entirely consists of licensed tracks, which have famously became known for costing more to license than the film cost to make. It ranges from bands like Love Among Freaks to Alice in Chains or Bad Religion, all consisting of alternative rock, punk rock and grunge which create this gritty tone that somewhat fits with the rough visuals that the film has to offer. It makes the film's most light-hearted moments seem abrasive in tone and crafts a mean spirit surrounding the film which arguably makes it more memorable than it would have been if it didn't benefit from the soundtrack.

Overall, Clerks is pretty much the definition of a cult classic, a diamond in the rough, this quirky little film that got made even though it defied all odds and it truly shines due to that. Sometimes the actual fact that this film exists and how it was actually created overshadows the content in the film itself, but that's not putting it to shame as there is plenty of genuinely funny moments in here. If anything, it's achievement in cult status not only launched Smith's career but also propelled this film into the realms of one of the most iconic independent films of all time with films like Richard Linklater's Slacker (the film that so very happened to inspire this one). It goes to show that anyone can make a film, so long as they put their thought and effort into it... not necessarily saying that the results are always good however.

"You're closed!"