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Clerks 25th Anniversay


Steelbook Indy

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25 years ago, I saw Clerks for the first time.  I was at Woodstock '94, and they played an early screening of it on the 2nd night.  Many had gone back to their tents to drink, smoke and spend time with their friends around campfires.  My group just sat down on the field and watched it.  I'd spent 2 full days of partying and listening to dozens of bands and had two more days to go.

 

I'd never seen anything like it.  It was in black and white.  The acting was off.  There wasn't much of a story.  It was dialogue-heavy, and most of us couldn't hear a thing.  In short, I hated it.  I felt that my time had been wasted and wished that they'd just thrown another band out there or some locals.

 

Fast forward a few months.  A trailer for it aired in front of the VHS tape of Pulp Fiction.  It was clever, funny dialogue and the soundtrack seemed great.  I told my friend that I'd seen it at Woodstock '94 and didn't like it, but maybe I needed to give it a second chance.  Since I worked in a video store, I brought a copy back to my friend's fraternity and we gathered a group of a dozen or more guys to watch it.  I LOVED IT, and so did everyone.  For the next four years, it  became one of the most quoted movies among my group of friends - largely in part due to the movie quoting so many pop culture references out of their traditional context.

 

"Salsa Sharks."

"No time for love Dr. Jones."

"THIRTY-SEVEN!"

I'm not even supposed to be here today."

 

Other young film makers were starting to make their mark in independent film - Tarantino, Linklater and Danny Boyle were just getting started.  Borrowing a page from their book, Smith proved around the same time that Linklater and Tarantino were making their marks - that dialogue does not always need to move the plot forward.  It can be clever and entertaining and help to give insight to the characters.

 

Smith's dialogue of his character study was youthful but ahead of its time.  The theme of growing up while not forgetting your youth is throughout the movie.  Dante and Randal are both friend and foil to one another.  On the outside, Randal is obscene and rude with a low tolerance for fools while Dante is friendly and civil.  As we follow the two of them, the audience realizes that Dante's flip-flopping, whiny personality is draining and unlikeable.  Randal, on the other hand, is someone that I'd want as a friend.  He's brutally honest and loyal.  Dante and Randal make a complete person together - and Dante's relationship with Veronica or the infamous Caitlin Bree are simply temporary while Randal is a permanent friend.

 

I read a story of how Kevin Smith sold everything that he had and maxed out all his credit cards to make the movie.  I'm glad that he did and has seen great success from it.  He went on to make Chasing Amy and Dogma - which are top-notch, insightful, thought-provoking films.

 

I give this movie a strong 9/10.  It's funny, because I'd forgotten when asked on Twitter to name a movie that you hated on first viewing that you now love.  My answer, at the time, was Mulholland Drive.  Had I thought a little longer, I'd have said Clerks.

 

9/10 Stars

Edited by Steelbook Indy
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