Some Clerks 2 thoughts from someone who's actually seen it...

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  • Some Clerks 2 thoughts from someone who's actually seen it...

    Saw it tonight. Kevin Smith did a Q&A after.

    I really loved the first film. One of the first movies to get me interested in independent film. And it was damn funny. Clerks 2 is hit or miss. How it got 8 standing ovations at Cannes or whatever is beyond me.

    There is a lot of funny stuff. But I don't think any of it is more clever than anything from the original. Sure, it's fun to watch people debate LOTR versus Star Wars. But what's sad is that their arguments are kind of obvious and old hat. The irony is that the reason they're obvious and old hat is because Smith started this kinda stuff 10 years ago.

    Another big problem is that Smith's movies have been too broad since Mallrats and that continues here. Clerks was interesting humor. Almost Seinfeldian humor. It was crass, slacker commentary on the world around them. It was gritty and based in logic and reality (no matter how twisted). This movie has some very over the top characters who say and do things that nobody on Earth would consider as truth. Some of the ideas and actions are so far fetched that they're not worth discussing in the scene. Not to mention the brief musical number. Point is, Smith is stretching. It feels like he's short on ideas at times and throws everything he can in to fill the gaps.

    O'Halloran and Anderson were never great actors, which we can all accept here because they're just funny guys. Smith doesn't help matters by casting his sh!tty actress wife as Dante's fiance. Rosario Dawson is the only shining star when it comes to performance. I was never a fan, but she charmed me.

    The worst part is that there are some real ideas in this movie that don't get enough attention. Stuff about entering your 30s and analyzing your place in life and where you're headed. Some of the moments are actually touching, especially the late scenes with Dante and Randal. You can almost feel the dramatic "life-changing moment" stuff that he injected into Chasing Amy. Should've been more of this stuff. And the ending is a real keeper. It basically justifies why the sequel exists.

    Anyway, it's an okay movie. You'll definitely laugh. I just wish Smith had a clearer idea of comedic style when shooting this.

    Ele...

  • #2
    Re: Some Clerks 2 thoughts from someone who's actually seen it...

    Haven't seen it yet, but this was the feeling I got from the previews. Bummer.

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    • #3
      Clerks 2

      Saw it last night, and I agree with ele's review. Hit or miss - but I laughed a lot and think it has an interesting choice at the ending.

      Dawson really steals the show - I want her to be the mother of my children. What I found kind of strange is that she's a really good actress - very natural - and she was kind of a "non-actress" discovered in the Indie world... yet she completely blows O'H off the screen in every scene. I actually like Anderson's acting - maybe he's just playing himself, but he seems real. You never see him acting (except when the script goes south). Though Smith's wife's cting just sucked (his daughter was much better), part of that may be her completely fake character. How do you make any of the crap she was given work?

      The thing about Smith is that he's a cult director - not an indie director. He has this really narrow appeal because he only does one thing - discuss completely taboo subjects with wit and intelligence. The STAR WARS vs. LOTR stuff was crap, but the discission of racial slurs was interesring - where else can you see that?

      The best thing about Smith is that he makes his films for a limited amount of money, and isn't afraid to go back to the $250k budgets. So many indie guys keep making bigger and bigger films, and then can't go back when distribs realize they have a finite audience that can't sustain a $15 million budget.

      - Bill
      Free Script Tips:
      http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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      • #4
        Re: Some Clerks 2 thoughts from someone who's actually seen it...

        I thought it was fine. Wasn't as bad as Mallrats, imho. Seemed like less talking than the first Clerks.

        My name is somewhere in those myspace list...
        R.K. Bentley
        My Blog, My Design Studio
        "Little hand says it's time to rock an' roll." - Hot Fuzz.

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        • #5
          Re: Some Clerks 2 thoughts from someone who's actually seen it...

          For anyone who's curious, the Kevin Smith Q&A didn't really shed too much light on the filmmaking process. He basically turned every question into an excuse to tell filthy, personal stories about Jason Mewes or Scott Mosier or all these other guy View Askew guys that the fans have come to know. And that kind of supports what Martell said about Smith -- he's a cult director. He's making these films for a very, very specific audience. It's like he's doing it just to make his friends laugh, only his friends are many more than when he made the original Clerks.

          I don't really have a problem with Smith himself. He did seem like a bag of hot air that loved to hear himself talk, but if I was up there I'd probably do the same.

          Ele...

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          • #6
            Re: Some Clerks 2 thoughts from someone who's actually seen it...

            I thought it was pretty vulger and quite purile. As Ele said, a massively missed oppertunity to really explore the psychology of watching life pass you by as you realise that your youth is well and truely over, forever.

            Smith will continue to be a massive success doing exactly what he is doing to his crowd. He is a niche director for people who arn't prepared to delve into film as an art any deeper than thinly veiled toilet humor delivered in a "witty" way.

            I'm far from a cinema snob (you should see some of the stuff in my DVD collection), and i laughed like hell at the virgina troll exchange, but this was very lowest common denominator when it should have treated the subject of inevitable maturity more..well maturely.
            Frosties are just Cornflakes for people who can't face reality.

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