There are some movies that are classics amongst nerds. While the usual fare of sci-fi and fantasy swell the ranks, there are some comedies that we geeks love. One of them that I had never seen was Clerks. To me, the plot seemed like a pretty lame idea, and since it was one of the first "major" movies of Kevin Smiths career, I figured it was going to be artsy and boring. I now see why this is a classic, and that I was wrong on my assumption (well, mostly wrong).
Clerks is about the day in the life of a New Jersey convenience store clerk named Dante, played by Brian O' Halloran. Dante is called into work by his boss on his day off, because his boss can't make it in until later. Dante is supposed to be playing a hockey game, and this is very important to him, so Dante agrees to go in for a few hours for his boss under the condition he can get out on time to be able to go to his hockey game. Attached to the convenience store is a video rental outlet, managed by Randal (played by Jeff Anderson). Both Dante and Randall have to deal with moron customers. Dante is typical of most trained and experienced customer service people (kind, understanding, puts up with a lot of bullshit but doesn't lose their temper), while Randal ignores and berates almost all of his customers. Throughout the movie, Dante and Randal have many conversations on topics such as Dantes love-life, movies, and the bullshit one has to deal with in their respective jobs. They also have to deal with a pair of drug dealers that regularly hang out outside of the convenience store/video store establishment, the infamous Jay and Silent Bob (played by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively).
One of the things that stood out to me about this movie was the conversations that Dante and Randal had. If you watch a movie, you notice something about conversations between characters: there is no "hi, how are you, bullshit this and that" kind of talk. All conversations have to have a point, to drive the plot along, etc., there's no place for everyday conversations. In Clerks, there are conversations that are both complete bullshit but drive along the plot and contribute to the story. This element is important in a movie like this. I had a job where I regularly worked shifts with a friend of mine, and we'd have conversations not too different from the kinds of conversations Dante and Randal had, so I can relate. That's what a lot of this movie is, relateability. Most of us have had jobs we hated, customers we'd like to kill, and bosses that regularly screw us over. That's probably why many people liked this movie, because the movie felt more like some kind of surreal documentary about the work days we all experience.
Pros: This movie felt strangely realistic, it felt professional and polished (not something you'd expect from someone who produced/directed/wrote/starred in), we get introduced to Jay and Silent Bob.
Cons: The movie was shot in black and white (remember that "artsy" thing I mentioned earlier? This was part of my assumption), the movie was very up and down (the movie went from interesting to boring and back again from scene to scene), this movie felt long.
