Sixteen years after the surprisingly great Clerks II seemed to wrap up the adventures of Quick Stop owners Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) in a nice little bow, writer-director Kevin Smith resurrects the stars of his debut for a trilogy-closer.
After suffering a heart attack, Randal enlists the help of Dante and a whole host of familiar faces to make a movie about the convenience store that has shaped their lives.
Clerks III takes a while to hit its stride, not least due to the initial shock at how much certain people’s appearances have changed, and the film-within-a-film is far from an original concept.
There’s also the question of whether this flick needs to exist as, for me, the second outing was a better climax for these characters.
However, fans of Clerks , and Smith’s View Askewniverse , should lap up the opportunity to spend some more time with some of the director’s best written scoundrels.
O’Halloran and Anderson have never been the finest actors but the ups and downs they go through feel real and you buy them as long-term buddies.
Smith calls in a few favours to feature a handful of starry cameos but they don’t distract from the main focus of Randal , Dante and the rest of the Clerks crew.
It’s sweet seeing certain players from the 1994 original make a return and Smith and Jason Mewes’ Jay and Silent Bob don’t overstay their welcome.
Not all of the jokes land, with many of the best laughs coming from callbacks to the previous flicks.
Fortunately, though, Clerks III is Smith’s most emotional movie thus far. You’ll feel really raw sadness on more than one occasion, especially if you are a Clerks devotee.
Smith takes Dante and Randal in directions you’d never expect and the maturity present in the script during its latter stages is atypical of the man whose main focus in the past often seemed to be on penis jokes.
Clerks III has enough fresh story beats to make its existence justifiable but please let this be Smith’s final trip to the store.
● What are your thoughts on Kevin Smith’s movies? Pop me an email at ian.bunting@reachplc.com and I will pass on your comments – and any movie or TV show recommendations you have – to your fellow readers.
● Clerks III is available to buy or rent on Sky Store now.
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