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With: Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Trevor Fehrman, Austin Zajur, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Amy Sedaris, Justin Long, Ben Affleck, Fred Armisen, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Danny Trejo
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Written by: Kevin Smith
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Directed by: Kevin Smith
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MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, crude sexual material, and drug content
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Running Time: 100
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Date: 09/13/2022
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Bicker Store
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Writer/director Kevin Smith returns to his signature characters with more gravity and gratitude in this sequel, and even though goopy sensitivity is not his forte, the movie offers warmth and smiles.
Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randall (Jeff Anderson) are well past forty and have resurrected the Quick Stop, now co-owners as well as clerks. The adjacent video store has now become a THC shop, run by none other than Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith). Dante mourns the death of his true love, Becky (Rosario Dawson), while Randall takes delight in riding new employee Elias (Trevor Fehrman), their former co-worker from Mooby's.
During an argument, Elias prays for God to smite Randall, and lo and behold, Randall has a heart attack. After making a miraculous recovery, Randall decides to finally do something with his life, and sets out to make a movie about the Quick Stop. But as the production gets underway, egos clash and tempers flare, and things eventually come to a head.
Clerks III goes meta with the re-creating of some of the famous scenes from the original Clerks (1994), with Silent Bob acting as DP and explaining why the movie must be shot in black-and-white. It requires some serious suspension of disbelief, as, not in a million years can our actors (all around fifty in real life) pass for their twenty-year-old selves. It also requires at least some knowledge of Clerks II (2006), a lightweight lark compared to this one, which introduced Becky and Elias.
Additionally, weepy stuff like this movie's hospital scenes and the graveside visits are a little out of Smith's wheelhouse — as evidenced by his infamous Jersey Girl — and they become flat, draggy spots in a movie that seems like it wants to be funnier. But even though laughs are fewer and farther between than in its predecessors, Clerks III seems like a genuine offering from Smith, rather than a cash-in sequel.
His voice is by now very familiar to us, and it has a grateful tone here. He truly appreciates these characters and understands how they have contributed to his life, and this is his love letter to them, and to the fans who made them iconic. When we hear his voice speaking over the closing credits (a bold choice), it somehow feels like exactly the right thing to do.
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