Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary may have used their video emporium experiences as a springboard to making movies but Kevin Smith has gone one step further by setting his directorial debut, at least partly, in a video store. And, even more remarkably, in a video store where he was still working.
Filmed mostly at night — when the shop was closed — Clerks is basically the story of two counter workers: the steady, responsible Dante (O’Halloran) and his wise-cracking, customer-baiting pal Randal (Anderson). In the course of one seventeen-hour shift the pair abscond to visit a funeral home, play a game of roller hockey and generally cope with the vast range of layabouts, dope peddlers and downright weirdos who turn up at the store. What they mostly do, however, is just chat, with their ruminations covering everything from Dante’s chronic women problems to the moral dilemmas inherent in the Star Wars trilogy.
To be fair, Clerks does have the grainy black and white look of a film that’s been made from Arnold Schwarzeneger’s tipping change but, in every respect, it is a triumph for both director and cast. Smith’s script simply crackles with an endless succession of humorous gags and on-the-ball observations while Anderson’s brilliant performance as the shop assistant from hell is worthy of a film a hundred times as expensive.
All in all, a very hip, funny, cogent movie for anyone who has ever worked a till or donated their hard earned to one.
