Kevin Smith is back with a new Clerks movie nearly 30 years after his debut, and Clerks 3 finds him surprisingly sentimental and emotional.
Cinematic universes are strange things. You're technically able to enjoy any individual film in the MCU, for instance, but who would honestly love the 21st installment in that franchise without seeing any of the others? Avengers: Endgame would probably seem like a cough syrup fever dream without seeing roughly 20 other films before it.
Similarly, Clerks 3 is dull, confusing, and very stupid if you haven't seen the previous two Clerks films or know much about Kevin Smith's filmography and personal life. Conversely, if the View Askewniverse means anything to you, then Clerks 3 will be a surprisingly emotional, touching reunion with friends.
The Clerks saga hasn't just been about the friendship between Dante and Randal, two working-class employees (and now owners) of a Quik Stop convenience store; it's also been about Smith himself, personally and as a filmmaker. Few directors have a fan base that extends from their films and to the very person behind them, and Smith might top the list.
Clerks, Smith's debut and a defining moment in American independent film, was a quirky, grainy black and white flick with a budget earned from Smith's comic book collection, maxed-out credit cards, insurance money from a flooded car, and a $3,000 loan from his parents. Smith worked at the Quik Stop during the day, and his employer let him film there at night after 10:30 pm, meaning that Smith slept about an hour a day for the three-week production. The result was a cultural phenomenon, winning awards at Cannes, featuring on many critics' top-ten lists, and ultimately being preserved by the Library of Congress. The organic dialogue, dark humor, and genuine friendship between Dante (played by Brian O'Halloran) and Randal (played by Jeff Anderson) were not just funny but endearing.
12 years later and six films later, Smith brought the characters back for Clerks 2, which found Dante and Randal working at a fast-food restaurant after the Quik Stop burned down. There, Dante is considering leaving for Florida with his fiancée but falls in love with Becky Scott (played by Rosario Dawson), who becomes pregnant after their one-night stand. In the end, Randal and Dante buy and re-open the Quik Stop.
Clerks 2 found Smith in a unique phase of his career, one where he'd grown sentimental. He was married and had a daughter, and subsequently made three films that were surprisingly sweet — the overly sentimental and cheesy Jersey Girl and two films which combined his crude humor with tender affection to great success (Clerks 2 and the great 2008 comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno). Since then, Smith has experimented with action comedy (Cop Out) and horror (Tusk, Red State), and the sweetness soured with some pretty dark, weird stuff. Then Smith had a 'widow-maker' heart attack and almost died, which is where Clerks 3 comes in.
Almost three decades after Smith began his filmmaking career, Clerks 3 finds him nostalgic and taking (film) stock of his life. It's the most meta movie he's ever made, and that's saying something from a man who directed Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. The film finds Dante and Randal working as their own bosses at the Quik Stop, but not exactly happier than they were in 1994. Now in their 50s, an age where the term 'best friend' seems a little lame, the two men are generally stuck in a rut, and Clerks 3 begins the same way. It's awkward and almost cringe-inducing, the jokes not really landing, and the formerly funny character of Elias (played by Trevor Fehrman) becoming cartoonish and just uninspired.
The film excels, however, when it embraces emotion. Dante is a pretty tragic figure here; Becky and his daughter have both died sometime in the past decade, and he's unhappy at the Quik Stop where Randal dragged him back to at the end of Clerks 2. Sure, he talks to his ghost wife (and Dawson is as typically charming here as ever) about all the people she has sex with in heaven, but his depression runs deep, the iconic "I'm not even supposed to be here today" phrase of Clerks turning into something more like, "I don't even want to be here today or any other day."
Related: Exclusive: Rosario Dawson Discusses the Surprising Way She Returns to Clerks 3
Randal, meanwhile, has a near-fatal heart attack, which is when Clerks 3 starts to become interesting. While recovering, Randal decides to make a movie about his and Dante's life, and the rest of the film chronicles their attempt, with familiar faces from the Clerks films reprising their roles (not to mention some other great cameos). Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) assist in the production, and Bob becomes the seasoned cameraman, shooting the film in black and white. Like a cinematic ouroboros, Clerks 3 is about the making of Clerks, eating the nourishing tail of this odd trilogy.
For fans of Clerks and Smith alike, the rest of Clerks 3 is a delightful series of inside jokes and fun winks to the audience, who are essentially given front-row seats to the making of Clerks through the perspective of its own characters. As the movie within a movie is filmed, everyone comes together and gets some time to shine, but Dante and Randal's characters in particular are satisfyingly fleshed out. The result is a film that's a loving ode to independent filmmaking itself, and a touching tribute to Smith's fans.
There are countless clever references to Smith's life and the making of Clerks, and even its infamous cut ending, and none of these would be enjoyable without an audience that's already invested in all these things. It's Smith preaching to the choir, but it's a fiery sermon and one with an unexpectedly moving, beautiful ending that wraps everything up in an intelligent way, merging the Clerks universe with Smith's life. It's fitting that these films would ultimately merge with their behind-the-scenes reality, since Clerks, a film so heavily engaged with pop culture, has become a part of the cultural zeitgeist itself (quite literally, with the Library of Congress calling it "culturally significant").
On an aesthetic level, Clerks 3 honestly does feel cheap, which is surprising considering the $7 million budget. The comedy is filmed with an unusual flatness, only exacerbating the weakness of some jokes. The soundtrack is trite, be it bland pop-punk songs or emotional filler music. Learan Kahanov's cinematography is bright and colorful but feels anonymous, lacking any of the bold, fun distinction of David Klein's great work in Clerks and Clerks 2, and if it wasn't for the dialogue, it feels like Clerks 3 could've been directed by anyone.
On some levels, maybe this is a back-to-basics decision, creating the most simple-looking film Smith could after years of experimentation; maybe Smith had a heart attack and decided to go back to the beginning, which is appropriate for the subject of Clerks 3. In that sense, the flatness of the film's style could very well be a reflection of the indie film Randal is trying to make (certain blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments may allude to the fact that what we're watching is the movie they're making, though that's an interpretive stretch).
At the end of the day, Clerks 3 feels like the kind of awkward and weepy but essentially heartwarming reunion old friends might have after missing each other for a dozen years. The conversation is initially dull and uncomfortably bad in places and yet pops with the occasional laugh-out-loud line that reminds you why the friendship existed in the first place. The amateurish stumbles of Clerks 3 don't detract from the actual honesty and beauty of the film's second half, and if you're any kind of Kevin Smith fan, you'll be deeply touched by the end.
Lionsgate, in partnership with Fathom Events, will be releasing Clerks 3 exclusively in theaters from September 13th - 18th.
Editor and writer for Movieweb.com. Lover of film, philosophy, and theology. Amateur human. Contact him at matthew.m@movieweb.com