Clerks III (2022)

Clerks III (2022)

My personal list of favorite films have had the same top 3 movies on it since 2005.  Number 1 is Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. Number 2 is Billy Wilder’s Sunset Blvd.. And my third favorite film of all time is the 1994 classic comedy Clerks by Keven Smith. 

The early part of Smith’s career is pure gold as you had Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Dogma, which I consider all three to be some of the best movies made in the 90s. He had this fresh pop culture take on every day things. It’s just a shame that society basically moved in on his territory, and now everyone talks pop culture all of the time. After Dogman, his movies really became hit and miss. Cop Out and Jersey Girl are quite bad. But Zack and Miri and Red State are fine movies. But his last few movies have been bad, and for only a single reason. It felt like Smith just didn’t have anything new to say. His last film Jay and Silent Bob Reboot doesn’t get interesting until the third act where he starts to explore Comic Con culture, but by that time it was impossible to salvage that movie. 

So when I saw Clerks III was coming out, I was very very nervous. Growing up I related to the character of Dante Hicks, and I didn’t want Smith to ruin this part of this universe, he was able to make Clerks II pretty good, but I have just lost faith in him over the past few years. That being said, Clerks III isn’t terrible, it’s got some of Smith’s more annoying habits like putting all his friends in the movie. There’s a scene where the gang at the Quick Stop is holding acting auditions and we get cameos from everyone in Smith’s address book. The scene last for so long and it’s just not funny. And I wish he’d stop doing that in all his films. 

The plot revolves around Randle who has a heart attack, and in the revelation that he hasn’t done jack with his life, decides to write a movie about 2 guys that work in a convenience store. And yeah, the movie does get meta, but in an interesting way. Characters and actors from the first movie come back to redo their roles, which gives the movie a sorta poignant nostalgia, an almost surreal feeling that hasn’t existed in any of his films before. But then again, there’s some wonky pacing, and some of the dialogue isn’t good, which is surprising because that’s Smith’s go too trick. 

About halfway through the movie, I basically figured out where the movie was going. And for the last 30 minutes, I tired to mentally prepare myself for the movie climax. I was not prepared. When the climax hit, I sat in my seat with tears running down my cheeks, with snot rolling over my lips, I was crying like a blabbering little baby. And never in a thousand years would I have never expected Smith to make me cry, to make me get this emotional. But he did and that might be the biggest thing he’s ever done in the history of his career. 

I’ve watched these characters form my teenage years onward, from Clerks, Clerks the animated series, Clerks II, and now Clerks III. And here’s to hoping this is the last chapter for the guys behind the counter.