Clerks II (2006)

Best movie ever!

A Masterpiece!

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It starts out with what appears to be an old fashioned movie, but quickly escalates into a number of plot scenarios. Two losers no longer have a place to hangout, so they choose the local fast food joint. There the two former workers at a grocery store have found a place to continue working; one of them is about to get married and move to Florida, his friend is there for support; but his boss is also there to add some mischief to the mix. There are three plot devices that enter – two nerds that make numerous references to Lord of the Rings and Transforers, and one multi-million dollar individual that can't help but showing up to gloat about his success.The movie at one point I wanted to put down; it played down on too many stereotypes and it looked like the rest of the movie would play out this way. Instead, it takes the stereotypes as we know them – and uses the reason we know the to be stereotypes and then mixes the up a bit and turns the into a progressive movie where the stereotypes are evolved as the losers slowly find some epiphany or solace in life; granted a few of the token characters are there just to mix things up a bit. The movie has a few bogus moments which are completely unbelievable, but they do give some instant charm to the movie and help amp up the feel a bit.The movie has at least three memorable sequences; first a dance montage on the roof of a fast food joint; an on tour show involving a male stripper and a donkey and lastly the ending of the credits where the copyright credits are listed – be sure to fast forward through the credits to reach this part; they are hilarious.Having said all of this; this movie isn't on my 'top picks', but it should be entertaining on a Sunday afternoon to the casual movie viewer.Originally posted to Orion Age (http://www.orionphysics.com/?p=10242).

The sixth and most recent but thankfully not the last film in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse, this is an hilarious and often surprisingly touching film. At a fairly lean $5 million, it still has more than 200 times the budget of "Clerks", easily one of the biggest budget increases for a sequel in film history. Irrespective of its bigger budget look, however, it manages to recapture much, if not quite all, of the magic that made the original film such a cult hit. After a slight misstep in the form of "Jersey Girl", Smith's comedic writing is once again very sharp and the same is true of his direction. I was particularly impressed by the 360 degree pan shot during an important conversation between the film's two lovable protagonists Dante Hicks and Randal Graves, played as before to perfection by Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson respectively.The film begins with Dante opening the Quick Stop to discover that it is on fire. Not a good start to any morning. The culprit was the coffee pot which Randal forgot to unplug the previous night. Given that Randal's place of work - and I use that term loosely - RTS Video was also destroyed, the two 33-year-old boys are forced to seek employment at the fast food joint Mooby's, which was established in "Dogma" and previously seen in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back". The story then picks up a year later by which time Dante has found himself a (controlling) fiancée named Emma, played by Smith's wife Jennifer Schwalbach. He plans to move with her to Florida where he will run one of her father's car washes. The film charts Dante's last day at Mooby's, which proves to be as eventful as the one previously chronicled in "Clerks".One thing I really loved about the film is that Dante and Randal have changed very little in the intervening decade: Dante is still the dogged nice guy who is trying to escape his minimum wage life and Randal is still determined to avoid any and all work while causing no end of trouble for his best friend of more than 20 years standing. If anything, Randal seems to have immatured with age as it takes particular pleasure in flaming the blog of a paraplegic. While the first film embraced the slacker lifestyle, this film goes one step further in that it is absolutely disdainful of the daily grind. This attitude is unsurprisingly best articulated by Randal. In a very touching moment, he admits that he would be lost without Dante and that he loves him (in a completely heterosexual way but Jay does have his doubts). In many of his films, Smith explores male friendship extremely well - T.S. and Brodie's friendship was one of the few things that I particularly liked about "Mallrats" - and this is best seen in the case of Dante and Randal's fraternal bond.Of the new characters, the most interesting is certainly Mooby's manager Becky Scott. Rosario Dawson is absolutely enchanting in the role and she has great screen presence. Becky is a very kind, warm-hearted woman who is cynical about romantic love, believing that it and marriage are merely crammed down people's throats by the greeting card companies. She and Dante are extremely fond of each other, seemingly on a platonic level, but it becomes clear to the audience and, eventually, them that they are far more than just friends. Showing an uncharacteristic level of insight and wisdom, Randal is the first person to realise that they have chemistry. As you can imagine, things get a bit pear-shaped when Becky tells Dante that she is pregnant as a result of their one-night stand in Mooby's. Smith has written several very strong female characters in his films over the years and Becky is my favourite of them after Alyssa Jones from "Chasing Amy".Other than Becky, my favourite new character is Dante and Randal's co-worker Elias Grover, played in a wonderful performance by Trevor Fehrman. A 19-year-old devout Christian, Elias is incredibly naive and acts far younger than his age because of his incredibly sheltered upbringing. Throughout the film, he is subjected to a torrent of abuse from Randal, who takes particularly pleasure in mocking his beloved "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "Transformers". One of the funniest parts of the film is when Elias explains to Randal that he and his girlfriend Myra have never had sex or even kissed because of the trolls living in her body that prevent her from doing either of those things. This raises a few interesting possibilities. Is the poor boy insane and Myra is simply imaginary? Is the poor boy being taken advantage of by a girl who can't stand even to kiss him? Is Myra insane and the poor boy does not realise it? All three scenarios seem plausible to me. In any event, he's in trouble! Having been noticeably absent from the admittedly non-View Askewniverse film "Jersey Girl", Jay and Silent Bob make a triumphant return on this occasion. They may have far less screen time than in either "Dogma" or "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" but Jason Mewes and Smith are once again hilarious in their roles. As ever, Jay gets some of the funniest lines in the film. Even though they have given up drugs and found God (whom they already met in "Dogma" anyway!), they still sell them and have otherwise changed very little. The film also features great cameo appearances by Jason Lee, Wanda Sykes, Kevin Weisman and Ben Affleck.Overall, this is a hugely enjoyable sequel to a comic masterpiece. The "inter-species erotica" scenes with the donkey are not exactly Merchant Ivory territory but I certainly laughed at them, even though I found the concept more than a little disturbing! I trust that no donkeys were harmed during the making of this motion picture.

It's safe to say that, back in 1994, the original 'Clerks' film was a classic. It was shot by (first time) film-maker Kevin Smith in black and white and charted the amazingly simple tale of a day in the life of two guys who worked in a convenience store.In fact, it was so successful that it's amazing that it's taken so long to produce a sequel. And, as everyone knows, there's always a distinct lack in quality when it comes to sequels. Yes, 'Clerks II' isn't quite as sharp or 'cutting-edge' is the original, but it's still damn good fun.The two guys have since left the grocery store and now work in a faceless burger joint (totally ripping of McDonalds!). However, this is the last day one of them will be working, as he's moving to Florida with his new fiancé and his best friend refuses to let him go without a 'proper' send-off.It's easy to say that what follows is just a re-run of Clerks (1). But it isn't. It's a whole new beast all together. Yes, the humour is still as risky and 'adult' in nature (you can't watch this and be easily offended!), but the situations are different and, what's more, is that you actually can identify with the characters. There are even a couple of quite touching moments between the two leads.So, if you're a fan of adult humour (or just enjoyed the original) then this is definitely one for you. Of course, if, like me, you're a die-hard fan of Kevin Smith's films, you'll get added enjoyment out of Clerks II as it's part of his 'Askewniverse' where all his films are interlinked and there are plenty of references to past situations and charters.http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/

Clerks II is all that Clerks. aimed to be but couldn't achieve because of lack of funds or experience. This time around writer-director Kevin Smith had what he needed, and it unfolded the way he wanted it to. It has the same feel as it predecessor, but smoother.The acting is better, in some case because they gained experience —Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith — and in others, because they're seasoned actors, like Rosario Dawson, who plays the wisest and nicest character of the bunch. The sets, camera shots, editing, and images quality are much better.The diatribes are different, but have the same vibe. They're excellent, and the points well made, as usual. You'll laugh at the various antics, and appreciate the underlying romance much more, since it has a more prevalent share of the story.The only thing negative I have to say is that the ending is a bit Hollywoodish. but it's inline with the story, and is kind of the logical conclusion, so it's difficult to hold it against Smith.