Bohemian Cinema By Jonathan Pacheco

“Clerks II” (2006)

Directed by Kevin Smith

Satisfaction:Thrilled Tags: Clerks, Comedy, Kevin Smith

I must say that I was against a Clerks sequel from the get-go; it would be unnecessary, it would taint the original, and it would never be able to live up to it either. When the credits to Clerks II rolled, I was okay with all of it. I enjoyed it, I’m fine with its place in the Jersey Trilogy.

Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) return, up to their same old tricks, only this time they’ve taken their clerical services to the local Mooby’s (a fast food joint for those unfamiliar with the View Askewniverse). Randal is still a politically/racially/socially incorrect bum and Dante’s still “sitting on the pot,” though it looks like his impending marriage to Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, the director’s wife) might literally force some success into his life. These actors know how to play their roles in their sleep, but Kevin Smith and his thespians have brought enough differences, and have put more at stake in order to elevate the roles and keep them from being simple rehashes.

I’ve never been a fan of Rosario Dawson; her voice doesn’t sound natural enough to me. It sounds like she’s using her “acting voice,” and to put her with two other leads who aren’t professional actors seemed to break the reality of the world a little bit, but she does manage to hold her own in most scenes as she plays Becky, Dante and Randal’s supervisor.

Working at Mooby’s is a teenager named Elias, and I must say that, for the most part, the character was botched. He’s a blatant and lazy caricature of the “naive Christian prude” and, especially in the beginning, he comes across as being simply an easy target for Randal (and Smith) to rail on. Yes, I do know that Smith is Catholic, I did watch Dogma. Later on, Elias becomes a little funnier and easier to accept, but it’s because his beliefs aren’t being lashed and he isn’t helplessly trying to explain his flowchart that reveals how God created the Transformers.

Despite dolly and crane shots, Clerks II has a grungier feel than any Smith movie, excepting his first. The way it was filmed, I’m sure, was meant to tie it together with the first film, which was shot in grainy black and white 16mm film; this one is in color, but mostly handheld with a little bit of a harsher feel. And while Smith’s editing techniques have changed since ‘94 (back when he’d leave the same shot on the screen for almost 8 minutes), it’s good to see that shorter cuts don’t necessarily mean shorter conversations. Let’s face it, dialogue is the one thing that pretty much all of us can agree that Kevin Smith excels in. There were moments that I thought the conversation would end based on the rhythm of most movie conversations, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was merely the halfway mark of the dialogue.

One thing I remember about the first Clerks was the music; there were songs that were popular, some that became classics to fans of the movie, and some that were just weird (“What a Wookie!”). Clerks II has a little more money to use on more popular songs, and to me, it was evident in two particular cases. The first is when Becky teaches Dante to dance, as seen in the previews. Played as dancing music is the Jackson 5’s “ABC,” a song that’s impossible to listen to without tapping your feet or bobbing your head. This scene, driven by the song, takes a quick turn to the absurd (but in a good way) and the payoff is unpredictable.

There’s an important scene late in the film that involves the song “1979” by the Smashing Pumpkins, during which I found myself thinking of how it was an odd choice; a tad out of place, a tad manipulative, and just a tad out of left field (when have you ever heard “1979” in a film?). Yet upon reflection, the song and its usage in Clerks II are the most dominant and fond memories I have of the film. I blame my under-appreciation of the Pumpkins (when they were together) on my young age, but for many, “1979” epitomized their generation. It was an important song, and I think Smith knew that, and he knew that using it in a pivotal scene would bring the point home.

And there is a point, and it’s a relatable one, too. These are people who are stuck in ruts that so many young adults are in, and they honestly have no idea how to get out; it always starts out as something temporary, and then the next thing you know, it’s been a couple of years. This is a film that understands that problem without being judgmental, and shows a little heart.

Note: One disappointment as a fan was the omission of inside references to other people and events of the “trilogy.” Sure, there were references to the first Clerks, but part of the joy and reward to the astute observer of Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Mallrats were the connections between characters of the View Askew Universe.