Sequel City — Clerks II
Published by Pop Bunker, September 14, 2010
Thanks to everyone for commenting on my last article—I really appreciated it. I’m glad I could stir up a little debate amongst some of you, and I hope you all keep reading.
As a fan of Kevin Smith’s movies, the pair I always wanted to see again was not Jay and Silent Bob, but Dante Hicks and Randall Graves—the clerks from Clerks. (Although there were six episodes of the cartoon, and one could argue that Mallrats is basically Dante and Randall in a mall, and Chasing Amy was Dante and Randall wrestling with a bisexual chick…)
Anyways, in 2006, I got my wish. The sequel didn’t set the world on fire (as the original sort of did), but I really enjoyed it and found it to be a worthy sequel.
In Clerks (and the cartoon series and briefly in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back), Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randall (Jeff Anderson) were working at the Quick Stop convenience store in suburban New Jersey. Clerks II begins with the store burning down. A year goes by, and the guys have gotten jobs at Mooby’s, Smith’s fake burger chain. We see Dante picking up Randall for another day of work, only this day is special because it’s Dante’s last—at Mooby’s, and in New Jersey. He’s marrying Jennifer Schwalbach, moving to Florida, and finally doing something with his slacker life.
And Randall, Dante’s hetero life partner, isn’t. Neither is Rosario Dawson, who plays the guys’ boss at Mooby’s, and who “gets” Dante. (And has gotten with him at least once.) Neither are Jay and Silent Bob, who are back loitering outside, nor Trevor Fehrman, the naïve young Transformers and Lord of the Rings-geek who works with the guys.
As with the original, events spin out of control, and Dante is left with a dilemma. As we know from Clerks, Dante isn’t good with decision-making. And just like in the original, he needs help to find his way.
I liked that Smith managed basically keep the same dynamic as the original while still updating things a bit. Maybe Clerks II isn’t as iconic as the original, or as interesting, or as uniformly funny, but it certainly feels right. Authentic. You’ve got the original Randall and Dante back, first of all, as well as their original writer. This isn’t automatic with sequels and it shouldn’t be taken for granted. O’Halloran and Anderson have great chemistry once again, and Smith excels at writing scenes with one recalcitrant smart-ass and one flustered straight man. Perfect fit.
Still, this is a new story, and there are a few changes. Color, for one thing—the original was black and white. A new dead-end job puts the guys in a fresh locale (and wearing new hideous purple Mooby’s uniforms.) Fehrman is a nice addition—he receives a lot of the abuse that Anderson’s Randall threw at the customers in the original. (Speaking of Jeff Anderson, we get a new wrinkle to his character in this one as well, and he plays it wonderfully. Also good are Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith as Jay and Silent Bob, up to new wacky stuff.)
A lot is new, but sadly for these characters, not a lot has changed. This makes the premise much sadder. In Clerks, the guys were losers, but at least they were young losers. They had time to pull things together. In Clerks II, we find out that they hadn’t, and now they ain’t so young anymore. The happy ending from the original didn’t stick for long, and it always bums me out when sequels do that. (Die Hard With a Vengeance and Alien 3 come to mind.)
This aspect of the film works for me, giving emotional grounding to all the sex talk and silly madcap stuff, like Jay sporting a mangina for no reason. However, I can see how the stabs at realism may take away from the comedy for some people. (And on the other hand, there’s nothing as bizarrely true to life in this one as the milkmaids, or the guidance counselor, or the idiots who always rent Navy Seals.)
The biggest problem I had with Clerks II was that the romantic dilemma was not much of a dilemma. The original was much more realistic in this regard. His current girlfriend was great on paper—supportive and super-attentive—yet Dante was simply not in love with her. (She had also just confessed to sucking 37 dicks, though, it must be stressed, not in a row). On the other hand, Dante’s ex had just gotten engaged and was horrible to Dante--yet he was still hung up on her. And here the ex was again, ready to give their ill-fated love another try.
My point is that there’s something real there, something that smacks of dating and relationships in your early 20s. In Clerks II, Smith made the choice much more clear-cut and cartoonish. There is never an ounce of confusion as to whom Dante belongs with, or will end up with, in the end. Jennifer Schwalbach’s character (and her overall “Florida” package) needed to be more appealing. Maybe the allure needs to be spelled out better, or maybe Dante should be welcoming her family showering a job and a house on the couple, instead of resisting it. Also, Smith thanks Dawson for making it seem believable that her character “would fuck Dante” in the closing credits. I don’t fault Dawson’s performance any, but I don’t think it’s entirely believable either.
The real question of Clerks II, the reason I loved it as much as I did, is not should Dante leave Dawson behind, but his best friend, Randall. This comes to a head in an incredible scene late in the movie, too late for me to describe without giving too much away. Suffice it to say that this scene seemed so genuine to me, so moving, that it made me cry when I saw it. I don’t cry at movies, and I sure as hell didn’t expect to cry during Clerks II, but Kevin Smith pulls it off.
I’ve read a few reviews of the movie in preparation for this, and they all mention the juvenile comedy and the sex stuff. They also usually leave out the heart. Personally, I found this scene to be infinitely more emotional and moving than anything in the panned Jersey Girl. The heart-tugging of Jersey Girl felt manufactured and contrived—what happens in Clerks II feels earned…despite the fact that it debates ass-to-mouth and bestiality.
Entertaining Scenes:
We get The Wizard of Oz color reveal as the Quick Stop convenience store goes up in flames. Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randall (Jeff Anderson) watch from the sidelines.
Someone has vandalized the clerks’ new place of employment—McDonald’s parody Mooby’s—on Dante’s last day. Bawdy, childish, and funny.
Jay and Silent Bob! They’re sober and have found the Lord, but they’re still hanging outside selling weed. And being funny.
Dante and Randall interact with Dante’s intended, Jennifer Schwalbach, in front of the store. Randall doesn’t like the fact that she has a large clitoris, so she flashes him. Yeah, doesn’t make any sense to me either.
ATM conversation ushers in Rosario Dawson, the guys’ boss. A nice series of scenes are interwoven: Dante and Dawson in her office, Randall doing a great recap of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Jay doing a public strip tease to “Goodbye Horses.”
Trevor Fehrman, young Mooby’s colleague, is tortured by the acid-tongued Randall throughout the film. In this scene, Randall uncovers a few entertaining details about Fehrman’s girlfriend.
Randall inadvertently lets out a racial no-no—a product of his own naiveté, ironically—and a patented Kevin Smith debate ensues.
A dance number mirrors the original’s rooftop hockey game. In the audio commentary, Smith says that Dawson’s bouncing around is the best bit of special effects in the movie. He’s not wrong.
Randall throws Dante a raunchy going away party.
Randall vs. Dante in the moving scene I mentioned above. Maybe I still tear up at this scene because of how closely I have resembled Randall here in slightly different circumstances.
The end. I liked it.
Not much more to add on Clerks II—if you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to check it out. After seeing the original again, of course. And if you haven’t seen either yet, you’re in for a real treat.
Now, usually I don’t do this, but here is a little preview of the next edition of Sequel City: in two weeks, I will be reviewing Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps a few days after it’s released. Until then…