Directed By Kevin Smith

Starring – Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawson

The Plot – Dante (O’Halloran), Elias (Trevor Fehrman), and Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith) are enlisted by Randal (Anderson) after a heart attack to make a movie about the convenience store that started it all.

Rated R for pervasive language, crude sexual material, and drug content.

Clerks 3 Official Trailer – YouTube

POSITIVES

Kevin Smith returns to the scene of the crime, invoking what is easily his most cathartic and deconstructive film to date. Because of such, “Clerks III” isn’t just the culmination of a trilogy that is nearly thirty years in the making, but also another introspective commentary on both the vulnerabilities of time that constantly haunt its characters, but also a meta-breaking insight into Smith’s own recent health perils that he of course works into the confines of his own fictional enveloping. The strange instance here, however, is that the worlds of fictional and reality come full circle in this third and undoubtedly final chapter, serving itself as a love-letter to the original 94′ film that began the career of arguably the most successful independent filmmaker of our time, with much of that original movie remade and reshaped for fictional emphasis in this movie within the movie. This opportunity certifies Smith’s remarkable precision as a director to revisit key moments in the franchise and remake them in ways that not only prescribe integrity to the razor-sharp likenesses of the original, but also in ways that compellingly and artistically furnish these actors coming full circle with each other’s careers off screen, in moments that, for better or worse, changed their careers forever. The production values, while not always as charmingly cheap as those in the original installment, do emit with them a rich authenticity that visually transforms time before our very eyes, and when held in contrast with Smith’s own clever uses of fictional product placement in the backdrops of the Quick Stop, does earn more than a few jaunty laughs to add to the charismatic cause. Balancing this sentiment is the story’s dependency for dramatic territory, which after an initial hesitation with Randal’s heart attack battling off-screen distractions, fully fleshes itself out for a third act climax that you won’t see coming, and one that had this longtime fan fighting tears for what eventually transpires. Finally, it was great to see everyone, and I do mean everyone back from the original ensemble. Smith’s ability to call upon his friends-made-characters speaks volumes about the connections he has made with each of them along the way, and when it comes time for them to reprise their respective roles and sift through the various familiar lines of iconic dialogue, they rise to the occasion, with Anderson’s comedic timing and O’Halloran’s dramatic heft enriching an irreplaceable dynamic in a film that values friendship more than the occasional, forgettable stoner comedy. While the duo’s chemistry has never been better, it’s the humility between them for life’s cruelest moments that is most appealing, bearing with it a rawness for conquering fears and shedding tears that was only hinted at in age vulnerability in this year’s “Jackass Forever”, but here feels right at home with Smith’s own newfound outlook on life post-heart attack.

NEGATIVES

While the opportunity for Smith to indulge in the triumphs of his own prominent career does elicit something uniquely compelling for a third chapter plot device that feels so creatively different from either of its predecessors, there is an overdrive of nepotism once more to the man whose previous two films have now been about revisiting those glory days. The problem here is that the dependency entirely takes over the growth of the film, in turn undercutting vital character growth in ways that lead to some truly ridiculous decisions of character logic, all the while serving as a bigger distraction to the script’s comedic consistency falling at the hands of Smith’s own prominent penmanship. To be fair, the film has plenty of funny moments, but they come as a result of revisiting the acclaimed lines of dialogue from the first movie, deducing the remaining original material in the shadows of the far more effective gags that have it reveling in safety. In addition to this, there were a few distracting instances in both production and direction that directly broke my investment to the unraveling of the narrative. From a production level, this aspect lends itself to the boisterous nature of the soundtrack of assorted rock favorites from My Chemical Romance, to Lit, which not only outdate the film, but also intrude on scenes in ways that completely alienate the intention. To go back to Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy”, it’s an up-tempo song about a regretful break-up, yet it’s used during Randal’s heart attack, which audibly transpires an unnecessary energy that doesn’t compliment the character’s mortality. However, from a steering capacity, Smith falters on a few key scenes that could’ve emitted a deeper sense of remorse in the direction of the unforeseen tonal evolution. One such instance centers around Dante confronting a demon from his past, but it’s acted and edited in a way that unintentionally garnered laughs from my theater, undercutting the integrity of the intention and showing off the work of O’Halloran in ways that you can’t help but pity, albeit for all of the wrong reasons.

OVERALL
“Clerks III” features all of the cuss-cluttered cues and bong blitzes that Smith’s career has been known for but evolves his sentimentality beyond the typical stoner wisdom that have only momentarily transcribed something sincere to the occasion. It’s a moving ode to working class nobody’s, but one that battles the creative perils and limitations of a visionary on autopilot, in turn undercutting the potential of this third chapter in ways that keep it in the shadow of its prominent predecessors, instead of standing alongside it.

My Grade: 6/10 or C+