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“Clerks” is the story of Dante Hicks (Brian ‘O Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson), two employees who put up with intellectually devoid customers, the fine of selling cigarettes to a minor, and a slew of other things one would not expect a clerk would have to deal with. Dante works at the Quick Stop convenient store, and Randal works at the neighboring video rental store. The story begins when Dante (who has a striking personality resemblance to me, something like a future ‘me’, but that’s besides the point) is awakened from his slumber in his closet by a phone call. He’s been called in to work on his day off, and he isn’t thrilled about it, primarily because of the hockey game he scheduled for the day.
The acting is very good in this film. ‘O Halloran does a good job of portraying Dante, the obedient, although whiny, clerk who has to deal with quite a bit in this film. His which brings me to Randal Graves. Anderson does a spectacular job as the clerk who frequently abandons his store to disturb Dante, disregarding whether or not the video store is supposed to be open. His unconcerned and frustrated manner towards the customers, as well as his is unconcerned and frustrated manner towards Dante is what makes him a very good supporting character. Of course, not just Dante and Randal take the spotlight. If it’s a Kevin Smith film, of course the infamous Jay and Silent Bob will be there. In this film, they’re on their usual home turf, hanging out in front of the Quick Stop and selling marijuana. In the few short scenes in which they appear, we see Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith begin to mold the characters that become much more renowned in the later films, and they do a good job of it. Another notable job was done by the people portraying the various customers, from the guy who gets his arm stuck in a can of Pringles, to the guy at the video store who asks for “the one with the guy that was in that movie last year”. The actors who portrayed them did a great job that should be recognized, even for a role as small as theirs.
I personally like Clerks because I can relate to Dante and his job, as I have sold many a concession at basketball games, and you wouldn’t believe the crap people ask me. |
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Clerks |
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capsule review by Dane Hitt |
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Kevin Smith |
