Clerks II (July 14/06)
It goes without saying that Clerks II is a distinct improvement over Kevin Smith's last directorial effort, the sappy and predictable Jersey Girl. Clerks II returns Smith to the forum in which he's clearly the most comfortable, as the writer/director punctuates the movie with an emphasis on pop-culture references and risque bits of comedy. But Smith's also infused Clerks II with an unexpected amount of heart and sweetness, resulting in an emotional payoff that one would never have anticipated from the filmmaker.
The story picks up over a decade after the events of the first film, and Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) are now working at a fast-food joint called Mooby's. It's Dante's last day at the restaurant, as he's scheduled to move to Florida with his fiancee the following morning - much to the chagrin of his boss, Becky (Rosario Dawson), who clearly has a crush on him. Also thrown into the mix are Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith), fresh from a court-mandated stint in rehab, and a fellow Mooby's employee (played by Trevor Fehrman) whose deep religious beliefs make him a prime target for Randal's derision.
Where the first Clerks essentially resembled a student film, Clerks II immediately establishes itself as an actual movie - complete with charismatic performances, stylish visuals (!), and a concrete, engaging storyline. And although the movie is occasionally as cloying and sentimental as Jersey Girl - a vibe that's compounded by the inclusion of several overly-obvious plot points (ie there is absolutely no chemistry between Dante and his fiancee, and it's clear right from the get-go that she's completely wrong for him) - Smith smartly plays up Dante and Randal's friendship, and there's little doubt that their rapport keeps things interesting even during the periodic lulls within the script.
Smith's dialogue has certainly improved in the years since his '94 debut, and the filmmaker imbues the proceedings with a whole host of natural, genuinely hilarious conversations (a Lord of the Rings/Star Wars debate is an obvious highlight). Adding to the good-natured vibe are the likeable performances, with O'Halloran and Anderson even more effective this time around than they were 12 years ago. The two are especially strong in the film's increasingly dramatic sequences that crop up towards the end, and ensure that such moments never become as treacly as one might've expected. Dawson is a welcome addition to the cast, though Fehrman never quite manages to settle into an appropriate groove (even he fares better than Smith's wife, Jennifer Schwalbach, who strikes all the wrong notes as Dante's bubble-headed fiancee).
Clerks II is easily Smith's most effective movie to date, and it's certainly his most moving; as a poignant look at finding one's purpose in life, the film undoubtedly succeeds. If nothing else, the movie's third act essentially guarantees that Smith's fans will walk away satisfied - to the extent that one can't help but hope that the director revisits these characters yet again somewhere down the line.
