Vague Visages’ Clerks II essay contains spoilers. Kevin Smith’s 2006 movie on Amazon and Tubi and features Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson and Jason Mewes. Check out more VV film essays at the home page.

Kevin Smith has a (not entirely unearned) reputation as someone who primarily writes about characters “whose central preoccupation is weed and dick and fart jokes” — something he pokes fun at in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001). “Don’t you ever want anything more for yourself?” Ben Affleck’s Holden McNeil asks the hapless titular duo who are naturally nonplussed. In the 2006 film Clerks II, Smith asserts that wanting more for yourself causes you to miss your whole life while you’re living it. And the proud Jersey boy understands what makes all the best sequels work, as he builds on the surprisingly sweet central relationship between Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) from Clerks (1994) — the first film in Smith’s “View Askewniverse” about two convenience store workers — while widening his scope without trying to do too much at once.

The location swap to a fictional fast food chain (Mooby’s, which pops up in both 1999’s Dogma and the aforementioned Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) is inspired, retaining the charming low-budget feel of Clerks while also showcasing how much Smith has grown as a filmmaker. Clerks II is essentially a slice-of-life story that takes place across one fateful day. Chaos ensues as the impulsive but well-meaning Randal consistently ups the ante to prove to Dante, who’s leaving him for a cookie-cutter life in Florida that he doesn’t even truly want, just how much he means to him. Smith keeps his focus tight, slyly echoing the oft-repeated criticism that he never moves the camera. The filmmaker establishes a small group of finely drawn characters who deliver rat-a-tat, mile-a-minute dialogue with confidence and panache. In fact, Smith is actually a stealth rom-com king.

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Between Clerks II, Chasing Amy (1997) and Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008), Smith really knows his way around a swoon-worthy love story that’s also packed to a bursting point with rib-tickling jokes. In the 2006 sequel, the joke hit rate is insane through several iconic and standout sequences. When Randal finds QuikStop burned to the ground, his very first line — “Terrorists?” —  is laugh-out-loud funny, and it’s immediately followed by another all-timer: “Shit! Now where am I gonna bring chicks to fuck when my mom’s home?” Smith also excels at delivering the requisite information in quick little bursts without it feeling expository. Instantly, it becomes evident that nothing much has changed for the main protagonists since Clerks. Randal still lives at home, doesn’t own a car and shares the same love/hate relationship with Dante. Meanwhile, the idea of Jay and Silent Bob working The Program is inherently ludicrous, and it leads to another of the movie’s funniest sequences. Plus, the accompanying cameos, from Ben Affleck to Jason Lee to Wanda Sykes, are fun rather than gratuitous.

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Sadly, Clerks II also demonstrates how good Smith once was at integrating funny anecdotes from his real life without swerving into obnoxiousness. Clerks III, on the other hand, revolves around the story of the filmmaker’s 2018 heart attack, with specific details that hardcore fans will immediately recognize, to the extent that it prevents viewers from losing interest in the (admittedly weak) story. There’s no such issue in Clerks II. Every cheeky Randal quip or Dante defense fits perfectly, largely thanks to the strength of their delivery. Smith cast the hell out of the movie, with Anderson and O’Halloran putting in career-best performances as Randal and Dante, respectively. The filmmaker’s lifelong pal and frequent thorn in his side, Jason Mewes, continues to be a uniquely engaging performer, delivering lines with his own inimitable cadence. Rosario Dawson, meanwhile, is luminous as the romantic lead, Becky. The character’s smile fills her entire face as she strives to pretend that she’s not in love with Dante and when she teaches him how to dance in Clerks II’s big musical sequence, which is pure sugary rom-com fantasy. Trevor Fehrman rounds out the group as the lovably earnest, super nerdy and mega-Christian Elias. The way he tucks his hair behind his ear while speaking to Randal, who is both a tormentor and hero,  cleverly speaks to how the actor embodies the character.

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The only real dud is Jennifer Schwalbach, whom Smith insisted on casting as Dante’s other love interest, Emma, despite the fact she struggles to convincingly deliver basic lines like “How many times are we going to have this fucking conversation?” Being a proud Wife Guy means Smith is seemingly blinded to how Schwalbach drags things to a halt every time she’s onscreen — Sheri Moon Zombie she most definitely is not. Thankfully, Anderson and O’Halloran prop their co-star up when possible, so it’s relatively easy to focus on them instead. Clerks II nails its sweet-and-sour tone with a succession of increasingly lewd sex jokes, culminating in a literal donkey show, and a genuinely touching romance. In fact, it’s at the donkey show itself that Becky and Dante finally confess their love for each other, which feels apt in the context of Smith’s crassly cute movie. Dawson and O’Halloran share terrific chemistry, even though Randal can’t help pointing out how ludicrous it is that despite Dante not being traditionally good-looking, there are always two women fighting over him.

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This is another example of Smith poking fun at rom-com clichés, even as he uses them to his benefit. True, Dante isn’t conventionally attractive, but the idea of both Becky, who’s long been a close friend, and Emma, who understands how his genial passivity will benefit her in the long run, falling for him is utterly believable. It’s worth noting that Smith doesn’t make Emma an out-and-out villain either; she’s demanding, but it’s up to Dante to take control of his own life, rather than blaming her for dragging him off to a better one in Florida when he’s undoubtedly a ready and willing participant in their relationship. Of course, the real love story of Clerks 2 is between Dante and Randal, which leads to what is arguably the most beautifully written and performed scene of Smith’s entire oeuvre. While stuck in jail after everything goes to hell, Dante and Randal’s friendship falls apart in spectacular fashion before being sweetly put back together again as they finally acknowledge that they can’t live without each other.

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Clerks II’s climax is sensitive without being schmaltzy, which is something the prolific Smith often struggles with (again, see Clerks III). Heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting, the sequence culminates with Dante and Randal both shocked into silence after finally admitting that taking over QuikStop themselves is what would truly give their lives meaning. Randal is stunned he’s even spoken the words aloud, but he immediately doubles down rather than dismissing it as yet another joke: “That’s what I would do. That’s what we should do.” It’s an acknowledgement of what it means to appreciate a small life, rather than constantly striving for greatness just because you think you should. By accepting that simply working with his best friend every day is enough, Dante finally understands how to be happy. Smith has been open about how lucky he is to have a directing career, and how much he values it, alongside sharing his own shortcomings as a filmmaker. The anti-mainstream tone of Clerks II speaks to Smith paving his own way in Hollywood, even when everybody hates him for it. The indie darling has never faltered or tried to be anything but himself.

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The finer details of Clerks II are as richly defined as the jokes. The cinematography, by regular Smith collaborator David Klein, is lovely and easily transforms the Californian landscape into autumnal New Jersey, where the winning opening sequence was partly shot. A strip of fast-food restaurants zooming by as Dante and Randal make their way to work is so quintessentially American, while Talking Heads’ “(Nothing But) Flowers” is the perfect choice to accompany it, much like every other song in the movie. Although James L. Venable’s (another Smith mainstay) score is fantastic, the many pop culture specific needle-drops, from The Smashing Pumpkins to Alanis Morissette, are what really make Clerks II sing. Even the purple and yellow color palette of Mooby’s signage is eye-catching, while the establishment’s disgusting food output is carefully and artistically lensed.

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Clerks II culminates on such a well-earned, fiercely optimistic note that it makes Clerks III look like even more of an abomination in comparison. Smith crafts such a satisfying ending for his beloved characters that the decision to undo it with a follow-up film is so galling it doesn’t even bear further excavation. It’s best to just believe that Clerks II is how Dante and Randal’s story wraps up, with a delightfully low-key future ahead of them, and leave it at that.

Joey Keogh (@JoeyLDG) is a writer from Dublin, Ireland with an unhealthy appetite for horror movies and Judge Judy. In stark contrast with every other Irish person ever, she’s straight edge. Hello to Jason Isaacs. Thank you for reading film criticism, movie reviews and film reviews at Vague Visages.

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