Dante, Elias, Jay, and Silent Bob are enlisted by Randal after a heart attack to make a movie about the convenience store that started it all.
This will sound a little blasphemous, but I’ve never seen a Kevin Smith movie. Not in full. No “Clerks,” “Chasing Amy,” or even Jay and Silent Bob movies. His nerddom comes to me as a commentator on all things comic books and action. His place in indie cinema comes to me from textbooks. Naturally, I’ve only heard about the man, the myth, the legend. So I was delighted to find that “Clerks III” (set in his View Askewniverse with characters from the first two) was a very approachable entry point and standalone flick. “Clerks III” really hammered home the broad brush strokes Smith uses and sticks the handing for those who are maudlin.
Kevin Smith greets us with a big welcoming sequence to the tune of ‘Welcome to the Black Parade,’ indicative of the kind of showmanship Smith wants to parade. His needle drops and montage sequences inject emotions in an early film school sort of way. We meet the characters, Dante and Randal (Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson), as they settle into their millionth day running the local convenience store. After a heated argument, Randal suffers a life-threatening heart attack. After the event, Randal realizes his life’s wasted. Randal makes his magnum opus: a movie about his life. Cue the fun montages.
Smith’s not afraid to use his clout to have fun. In the audition sequence, we get a litany of famous funny actors (from Ben Affleck to Fred Armisen) and hilariously simple auditions. It’s a clever gimmick that keeps its tiny budget intact while creating soft chuckles. Smith’s penchant for off-the-cuff nerdy hijinks is the standard for his work, and “Clerks III” is no different.
The film feels like a low-budget experiment in slice-of-life filmmaking. Thankfully its straightforward narrative drives the story. The most successful part is the depth he gives his characters. The grieving Dante anchors us in this movie as it escalates into comedy. Which surprisingly works for the film.
“Clerks III” surprisingly works, and for an audience member who never saw the first two, it actually struck a chord. I’d recommend this movie to any fan of low-budget escapism with a dash of emotional complexity. For all his obvious aesthetic choices, Smith manages to pull off a reasonably engaging tale.
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