*No twists spoiled here…

IMDB Synopsis

Dante, Elias, and Jay and Silent Bob are enlisted by Randal after a heart attack to make a movie about the convenience store that started it all.

“You’re not even supposed to be here today”

Kevin Smith has created a world of cinema that basically lives on it’s own outside of the world of Hollywood. He makes movies for hardly any money, he makes them with his friends, and he only releases them for a short time in a few theaters. This new formula is one he has crafted after realizing that this is the best way to sell his movies. He also gets a chance to go watch the movies with his fans which is truly who he writes his stories for. At this point you are already in or out on his style and for me I will follow him to the end of the earth. The universe he has created is so indelible and the characters all feel so alive I just want to live in this world.

His latest movie CLERKS III is obviously a continuation of the story he started in 1994. He talked about writing this when I went to his roadshow for JAY AND SILENT BOB REBOOT, and since he told us the premise I could not wait. That premise was simple, like Kevin in real life Randall has a heart attack, and that life threatening experience opened his eyes and gave him an idea to make a movie. That movie he starts writing is about his life and becomes the movie CLERKS. It is very meta and very basic in Smith’s world, but that is what makes it so great. He writes about his mundane daily experiences in a way that makes it fun for people who watch the movies. Dante says “Who wants to watch a movie set in a convenience store” and clearly that novelty is something that has propelled Smith throughout his entire career.

What continues to set Smith apart from your normal comedy writer, who makes fart jokes, is his ability to bring you to a cry with his dramatic writing. It could be right after you are crying laughing that he will rip your heart out with a scene between two characters discussing their life in ways you cant imagine. He has such a feel for these characters that no matter where he takes them you just want to follow them.

I could go on and talk about the technical aspects of the movie, but I am not going to sit here and act like Kevin Smith is Christopher Nolan (THE GOD). Smith knows what he is good at and plays to that. The best parts of this movie show Smith recreating how he made Clerks for literally nothing. They filmed it in Black and White because they did not have money for film, and now they play it off as “it makes it look like you are watching the movie through security cameras.” Showing how they filmed in the store at night to make it look like daytime, how they used real customers and real stories, and how Jay and Silent Bob came to be, actually made the original movie better for me. It gave it context and showed how much of a miracle Smith’s entire career is.

Stock Watch

Stock Neutral – Kevin Smith

This is the only one I have here because the other actors are not really in anything besides these movies. Kevin Smith however has fully picked himself up from a mid career lull. He makes movies with people he loves about people he loves and you can tell he is just enjoying his career now.

*A couple other tidbits

– Seeing Ben Affleck back with the gang still warms my heart.
– All of the Rosario Dawson moments hit so hard and felt like the heart of the film.
– As always the moment Silent Bob speaks is incredible and arguably the funniest part of the movie.

I just had a great time watching this movie. Is it a masterpiece, no but it is another great entry into the ViewAskewniverse. I cannot wait to see what else he has in store for these characters in the future.

Juice Rating:

*You can find my 2022 Movie Rankings here.

*You can find my ViewAskewniverse Rankings here.

*You can find all of my Movie Ratings here.

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