I am beginning to suspect that somewhere in my aging feminine form lurks a 20-year old lad struggling to escape. How else to explain the fact that I found the above movie so amusing and engaging, while at the same time generally abhoring the dumbed-down humour and emphasis on bodily functions so prevalent in other contemporary flicks. I was enchanted by the original Clerks when I first saw it -- a breath of fresh air, both well-written and laugh-out-loud with its memorable blue-collar characters.
Well, Brian O'Halloran is back as Dante, Jeff Anderson is back as Randal, and Jason Mewes and the director, Kevin Smith, are back as your friendly local drug-dealers Jay and Silent Bob. Not that any of these actors have much of a cinema career outside of Smith's films (and parenthetically I was amused to see Smith himself cast as a computer-nerd freak in the recent 4th "Die Hard" film), but their personas are so well-established that it is like welcoming back old -- if not very reputable -- friends. In this movie, the convenience store where Dante and Randal worked has burned down and they now work at a cheesy burger joint managed by Rosario Dawson. Dante is about to leave for Florida with his pushy fiancee played by Smith's own wife without any vanity, and neither Randal nor Dawson want to lose him. Randal decides to organise a farewell performance by a donkey act (inter-species erotics or something like that) and chaos ensues before the completely satisfactory conclusion.
Again the script is disrespectful, rude, and smart, full of film and comic book allusions so dear to Smith's fans and we have the usual obligatory cameos from Ben Affleck and Jason Lee (although no sign of Matt Damon who is possibly now too A-list to oblige). All in all it's a good-natured romp which definitely appeals to the young lad in each of us.
I shall be away for a few days, so no more raves or rantings until after the weekend...
2 comments:
I thought the 20 year old was in your wardrobe.....
Remarkably unforced for a sequel after so many years. I was agreeably surprised to see Rosario Dawson doing more than act as eye candy - not that I
have ever thought of her as such.
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