[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Up]
In select theaters Sept. 13-18, 2022.
In 2018, the band Smashing Pumpkins reunited and went on tour. I grew up in Chicago, was a big fan, and made it a priority to see them live. The day came and when their music started playing in the arena, I was in tears, but with the biggest smile on my face. I didn’t get a chance to see them before they broke up in 2000 because I was barely old enough to go to concerts. I honestly thought this was never going to happen and the day it did, I was overcome with a flood of positive memories from my youth.
Kevin Smith’s third foray into the lives of convenience store clerks Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson), is one of the sweetest movies you’ll see this year.
Following a massive heart attack, Randal enlists his friends and fellow clerks Dante, Elias (Trevor Fehrman), Jay (Jason Mewes), and Silent Bob (director Kevin Smith) to make a movie immortalizing his life at the convenience store.
I shared the story above because the same thing that happened at that concert happened as I watched Clerks III. Smith’s clerks reshoot conversations we as the audience first heard in 1994. The first time it happened, I assumed it was a nod to the original because Smith has gotten very meta in his old age. Then they did it again, and again and before I know it, I’m overcome with memories of seeing Clerks for the first time and the joy it brought me. I didn’t see the movie when it first came out, I discovered it years later as a teenager, which is the best time to see a movie like Clerks.
But not everyone was smiling at the Quick Stop convenience store. When we last saw the gang in Clerks II, Dante was just starting a relationship with Becky (Rosario Dawson). I won’t get into the why, but the two are no longer together and that weighs on Dante. But if you know these characters, you know Dante is not one to put himself above others. So he helps Randal make his movie as a producer. And what do you need if you’re making a movie? Actors! The casting scene is chock full of cameos, some of whom worked with Smith in the past.
After going through the audition process, Randal believes he and his friends can make the movie themselves. This leads to a couple of funny scenes of Silent Bob explaining how he’s going to shoot the movie (see, more meta!) and Jay getting stage fright.
The Randal character has only gotten more insufferable since his heart attack. He’s always been a selfish jerk, especially to customers, but now even more so because he thinks he finally has a purpose and his purpose is far more important than anyone else in his life.
This isn’t a perfect movie by any means. The character of Elias was tolerable in Clerks II but if IMDB is accurate, then that was the last time the actor Trevor Fehrman popped up in a movie. Fehrman was all over the place to the point where I was hoping I’d see less of him.
I know he’s turned away fans with his last few movies (even I can’t defend Yoga Hosers), but it’s ok to go back to what you know and occasionally play with your old toys. With Clerks III, Smith cracked the formula of introducing enough new material while playing up to the audience’s nostalgia for a fun time. If this is the last time we visit Quick Stop, then I’m more than satisfied with my last service.
Joe Jarosz is a Midwest boy living in California. As much as he likes to think he has an edge, he’s quick to cry at the latest animated movie he takes his kid to see.
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