CLERKS: KEVIN SMITH'S DIRECTORIAL DEBUT AND THE START OF A FRANCHISE.

RATING: 96/100. NEAR PERFECTION.

What is it about Clerks? What is it that makes this movie such an iconic classic in film - especially independent film work? The answer heavily relies on how refreshingly authentic the movie feels. There’s something so rough around the edges about the film that gives it the grit that is apparent from the very first shots of the film, it feels wonderfully real. The feeling that the film was going for was captured perfectly and one of the things that did that so wonderfully was the unintentional (and unavoidable) aesthetic of the film. 

It isn’t hard to notice that Clerks is something different from your average movie. It isn’t common that you see a film in entirely black and white, especially not for a 1990s film. Clerks was shot with a budget of about 27 thousand dollars (USD) that Kevin Smith acquired by selling a majority of his comic collection and maxing out multiple different credit cards. 

The tight budget is the reason why the film is in black and white - it wasn’t a stylistic choice, it was what Smith had to do to make this movie a reality. In truth, it would have cost too much to shoot the film in colour. The movie was shot entirely at night, meaning that post-production editing of the lighting (amongst other things) would’ve been both costly and time consuming for a movie that took just under a month to shoot.

This is the same reason why the shutters of the store are closed - this is explained in the plot of the film when Dante first opens the shop for the day, but this element had to be added to the film because the shutters couldn’t be open due to the store being closed for business.

Smith was sleeping very few hours a night during the production of the film. The now iconic Quick Stop is where he was actually working before & during the time he was making the movie. He had permission to use the Quick Stop to shoot, but only after-hours, which meant they would shoot in the late hours of the night and early hours of the morning before Smith was back to his regular work. Smith would work from 6am to 11pm and then the film would shoot until 4am or so before he would go home to try and sleep for an hour or two before he would go to work again. 

But this schedule paid off.

The film made over 4 million dollars (USD) at the box office - making the budget back and then some (well over 100x the original budget). It was a surprise hit that has become a cult

classic since its original release in 1994. 

Clerks is a simple film that works well. It takes that simplicity and utilizes the environment it was shot in with memorable characters and countless quotable lines that will stick in your head for years after seeing the film. 

There’s something about each character that works incredibly well. It’s that they are relatable figures for many people and they almost feel like people you could know in reality. They aren’t over exaggerated (for the most part), they’re normal people at a normal job. 

Clerks might not seem like the most interesting movie on the outside; but there’s something truly special about it that you can’t find in any other film. It relies heavily on dialogue that is extremely comical - Smith has an incredible talent for both directing and writing his films and this is one of the films he has done that shows that off the best. The Clerks films have some of the wittiest and funniest banter I have ever heard in a film of any sort. 

Outside of the iconic Jay and Silent Bob characters one of the star-characters here is Randal Graves. He has arguably the funniest lines and scenes in the movie - which is due to Kevin Smith originally writing the character for himself before giving it to Jeff Anderson. Smith ended up playing Silent Bob because it was a lot less work for him. He didn’t have to memorize many (if any) lines, which made it easier for him since he was also directing the film. 

The film was made up almost entirely of “no-names” at the time. It wasn’t a big blockbuster film full of stars, it was the debut of a young filmmaker and some actors who had never been on the big screen before this. Kevin Smith and longtime friend Jason Mewes make up the iconic Jay and Silent Bob duo, one of many things that make Smith’s films as great as they are. 

But this movie didn’t need any big-name Hollywood Stars. It had charm - this charm is what really makes the film what it is. It’s not a shock that this is Smith’s first film - but it is incredibly impressive. His writing skills were incredibly well developed here and the writing is one of the highlights of the film.

I’m someone who doesn’t personally love a lot of films with a ton of dialogue/dialogue-driven films - but this movie is an exception. The dialogue is so well done that it doesn’t need many scenes of action/events, watching Randal and Dante (as well as all of the other characters) interact with each other and the customers who come in is enough to hold the movie up and stay entertaining throughout the runtime. There isn’t a dull moment to be found in Clerks.

Despite this being the first film in the View Askew cinematic universe, it was actually the second one that I watched. My introduction to Kevin Smith was his more star studded 1999 film Dogma. It’s interesting to see now after seeing Smith’s other films to see the artistic growth as well as more creative liberty being displayed with bigger budgets to work with and more resources. 

Clerks is the film where many different people involved “made it” in their careers. This film successfully launched Smith into a more “professional” directing career. 48 of the 50 credited actors made their on-screen debuts in this film, and many of them would go on to star in more of Smith’s films later down the road.

Another reason for Kevin Smith casting himself in this movie was an ironic one. He wanted to be shown in the film so he could at least point out that he was in a feature film if it didn’t make it big and he was left in debt because of it. Needless to say he had nothing to worry about - Clerks is easily one of the most iconic comedy movies ever made, and it’s even more impressive to think that Smith was writing this well so early on in his career.

Smith did everything he could to get the money to fund this film - all on his own. He was not backed by a studio until Miramax bought the movie for distribution. He borrowed money from his parents and even used some money from an insurance settlement from a car that he and Jason Mewes drove together that was destroyed in a flood.

Another big thing that Smith got away with for this film was the lack of any cut material. The movie remained in the state that it was made in originally (minus a drastic change from the original ending) and was not heavily edited after being purchased by Miramax. It’s one thing that he pulled off making a movie like this in the first place, it’s a whole different field that he practically got to do whatever he wanted with it. It’s wonderfully his and it shows off his style of film and comedy exceptionally well.

Clerks managed to do the near-impossible on almost all fronts. It is a delightfully refreshing comedy that doesn’t feel like it’s “trying too hard”, it feels so authentic and natural - it’s like you’re really inside of the Quick Stop with everybody. The Clerks universe is easily one of the most gripping and immersive film universes I have ever seen. Every character is likable and they feel incredibly genuine. 

There isn’t anything about Clerks that feels pretentious. It’s just a sit back and relax film with some of the most clever writing and wonderfully crafted characters I have ever seen in a comedy film. There’s more to it than one might think, and it is one of the absolute essentials of comedy.