Clerks II Review
by Jerry Saravia (faustus_08520 AT yahoo DOT com)July 26th, 2006
CLERKS II (2006)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Viewed on July 24th, 2006
RATING: Four stars
Say what you will but I've been impatiently waiting for the return of Randal Graves and Dante Hicks as much as the return of the Jedi or a fully-realized version of "Lord of the Rings." Randal and Dante are, of course, the clerks from Kevin Smith's directorial debut film, "Clerks" from 1994. The movie was not a major success but it later became a cult favorite and it helped advance the career of the New Jersey Maestro of bitchy,
quarrelsome slackers. Now here's "Clerks II" (originally titled "The Passion of the Clerks") and I am proud to say that this movie is hilarious from first frame to last. It is Kevin Smith's funniest and most irresistibly un-PC work to date and, for once, it is a sequel that actually delivers!
As the movie opens, Dante (Brian O'Halloran, a former UPS delivery driver by the way prior to "Clerks") is on his way to work at the Quik Stop in good old
Leonardo, NJ when he finds it burning literally to the ground. What will Dante and his obnoxious best friend Randal (Jeff Anderson) do now? And how come there
is no reference to RST Video? Never mind. Dante
and Randal end up working at Mooby's, a hamburger
joint that appears to have few patrons. The duo wear ridiculous purple uniforms, work with a spunky
manager, Becky (Rosario Dawson) and a dorky
employee, Elias (Trevor Ferhman) who can't wait for a live-action "Transformers" movie. Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) are back peddling for
dope outside Mooby's despite just finishing their six months rehab stint - their 12-step program is evident since they hold a miniature version of the "Holy" Bible.
Meanwhile, Dante is working on his last day at Mooby's since he's off to Florida to marry his fiancie (Jennifer Schwalbach) and run a car wash (how very Dantesque!) Randal is understandably peeved and does everything to wreck Dante's new life, including bringing in a gay donkey show that is to be seen to be believed! Becky is also a little peeved since she likes Dante and has a little surprise for him. Everything that can go wrong for Dante, though, does go wrong.
"Clerks II" has lots of laughs to spare and some truly biting, even incendiary dialogue. There are Randal's riffs on racism (and ignorance of one particularly offensive term), Lord of the Rings versus Star Wars, sexism,
and his affection (in a heterosexual way) for Dante whom he gives the most constructive advice he can.
There is Dante and Becky dancing to the "ABC" song
by the Jackson Five, the dorky Elias's nightmarishly funny account of his girlfriend's reasons why they
can't have sex until they are 21 (complete with Wendy Carlos's "Shining" score to boot), Jay performing a "Silence of the Lambs" tribute which he begins by
applying chapstick to his lips, and the already notorious, Joel Siegel-bashing gay donkey show that is nowhere near as tasteless as anything in "Van Wilder." There are many other howlers throughout but I wouldn't
dream of giving them away.
The cast does as well as one can expect. I think we all know what to expect from Brian O'Halloran and
Jeff Anderson, not to mention the always riotous Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith. The performance of note
is Rosario Dawson as the charming, sexy, humorous
and breathless Becky - a no-nonsense woman who
doesn't believe in marriage. Every time she appears on screen, she burns it with her naturalism.
"Clerks II" is vintage Kevin Smith, exuding laughs with some deep, honest truths in equal measure. Obviously Smith made this film as a corrective to "Jersey Girl," but it also shows that his comic timing and milking almost any situation for laughs to be in ultra top form. I am glad to see Dante and Randal back (the short-lived animated series and "J & S Strike Back" were not enough for me), and kudos to Smith for not keeping his promise that Jay and Silent Bob wouldn't return. They all have and deliver a major comic bang, and an unexpectedly touching coda. Forget "Superman Returns," "Clerks II" is a super sequel.
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