Clerks III – 2022 – Comedy
Directed by: Kevin Smith
Written by: Kevin Smith
Main Players: Brian O’Halloran; Jeff Anderson; Rosario Dawson; Jason Mewes; Kevin Smith; Trevor Fehrman; Austin Zajur; Amy Sedaris; Justin Long; Sarah Michelle Gellar; Freddie Prinze Jr.; Ben Affleck; Melissa Benoist; Fred Armisen; Jennifer Schwalbach Smith; Harley Quinn Smith
Delivering the most emotional and mature script yet, Clerks III brings the end of a saga for a New Jersey convenience store called Quick Stop Groceries.
Dante Hicks (O’Halloran) arrives at the mart and opens the shutters, like clockwork. Next door is now a THC dispensary in the old video store. Dante preps the Quick Stop for daily sales, starting coffee and stacking newspapers. It’s been 20 years of this shit. Randal Graves (Anderson) pops up, greeting the day. Time for hockey on the roof!!
Jay (Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) pop out and set up shop on the street. Also rolling in for work happily is Elias (Fehrman). Oh lord. He is now co-founder of the Christian Crypto Club. Buuut, he also works for dollars at the Quick Stop, so buckle up.
What starts as a usual day hits some scary times as Randal struggles to breathe and passes out. Shit, it’s a heart attack… Here come a few serious moments and lifestyle changes. While Randal reconciles with this life changing event, Dante has his own past trauma to process as he had a major loss in his own life years before. Yes, this movie is still quite funny despite this drama.
Clerks III lets it rip with Smith’s usual dialogue and crude yet clever humor. If you made it to Clerks III, then you are well used to the vibes by now, and this one is no different. Its biggest difference is even more maturity and emotional resonance. It dwells more on life and its precious nature, and how important friendship is, as well as digging into movie making, which is a nice touch. Definitely this is more personal for Smith who had his own real-life heart event, and clearly loves creating films.
Acting is a bit stronger than some of the previous entries, as the cast is tasked with more emotions than prior films. That being said, there is still over the top humor and ridiculousness. The script is not bad and digs into more than just mundane work life at the Quick Stop. This film rounds out the Clerks adventures with a pretty good, yet solemn final chapter. For now that is, we could always get Clerks: The Next Generation someday…
"Take me Satan! Make me a concubine!"
See This If You Liked:
Clerks; Clerks II; Mallrats; Chasing Amy; Dogma; Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back; Jay and Silent Bob Reboot; Office Space; Superbad; The 40-Year-Old Virgin; Grandma’s Boy; Zack and Miri Make a Porno; Old School; Wayne’s World; High Fidelity; Swingers
Score:
7.5