Combustible Celluloid


New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.




Home
Reviews A-C
Reviews D-F
Reviews G-J
Reviews K-M
Reviews N-Q
Reviews R-T
Reviews U-Z
 




Redbelt **1/2
Roman de gare **1/2
Son of Rambow **1/2
Speed Racer [review coming soon]
Still Life ****
Iron Man ***
More
 




A Collection of 2007 Academy Award Nominated Short Films
The Hottie and the Nottie
I'm Not There
Over Her Dead Body
Paddle to the Sea
The Red Balloon
Silent Ozu: Three Family Comedies (Criterion Eclipse #10)
Teeth
Twister: Special Edition
More
 

Film Features

My Top 100 Films [Updated]
My Top 60 Directors [Updated]
Charlton Heston (1924-2008)
Scott B. Smith
Estelle Parsons
Roger Donaldson
Roy Scheider (1932-2008)Mike Binder
James McAvoy
Tony Gilroy
David Cronenberg & Viggo Mortensen
William Friedkin
Peter Fonda & James Mangold
Kasi Lemmons on Talk to Me
Steve Buscemi on Interview
Lynn Hershman-Leeson
Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg & Nick Frost on Hot Fuzz
Scott Frank, Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Matthew Goode
The Top 50 Movies of the Past Ten Years (1997-2006)
Bong Joon-ho, director of The Host
Mark Polish, Michael Polish & Billy Bob Thornton
My latest blog entries at cinematical.com
The 'Mexican New Wave'
Interview with Singaporian Filmmaker Djinn
Joe Carnahan & Jeremy Piven Interview
Terry Zwigoff on the new Bad Santa Director's Cut
Alfonso Cuarón Interview
Guillermo Del Toro Interview
Chris Noonan Interview
Robert Altman (1925-2006)
Scarlett Johansson: A Study in Scarlett
Christmas Movies
Combustible Celluloid's Big Guide to Halloween & Horror Movies
Joe Eszterhas
Jet Li
Zach Braff
Kirby Dick
James Ellroy
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
Adrien Brody
Steve Irwin (1962-2006)
Elisha Cuthbert/Jamie Babbit
Matt Dillon
David R. Ellis
Maria Bello
Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson
Mickey Spillane (1918-2006)
Al Gore
Cult Movies
Actress Interview Gallery
The Top 100
More Features and Interviews
 

Film Books

Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
Guide to Essential Movies, by Joe Leydon
Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, by Robert S. Birchard
Profoundly Disturbing, by Joe Bob Briggs
A Third Face, by Samuel Fuller
Dark Lover, by Emily Leider
Agee on Film, by James Agee
Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks
Negative Space, by Manny Farber
5001 Nights at the Movies, by Pauline Kael
More Books
 

The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

 
Sign up for my weekly newsletter!  

More of Jeffrey's reviews are available at: Rotten Tomatoes and All Movie Portal.

 
About
Lists
Gallery
News
Links

E-mail me.
© 1997-2008 Combustible Celluloid



Clerks II (2006)

Rating: 3 Stars (out of 4)

'Clerk'-me-up

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Clerks II on DVD

With his seventh feature film, filmmaker Kevin Smith returns to his first. This could be seen as an act of desperation, especially coming after his earnest, yet maudlin Jersey Girl (2004), but it could also be a case of recharging his batteries.

After viewing Clerks II, it's probably safe to bet on the latter.

The original Clerks (1994) is still a cult classic known to many, but let's recap. It was that year's indie smash, shot for something like $25,000 and grossing somewhere just over $3 million. It was a dialogue-heavy, black-and-white comedy about two low-ambition twenty-somethings, Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson -- no relation to me), who worked at a New Jersey convenience store and an adjacent video store, respectively.

The sensitive one, Dante, continually second-guessed himself and his relationships with women. Randal was the more carefree soul, the impetus for all kinds of havoc and sick humor.

Lending support were the local burnouts, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith). Jay babbled consistently about drugs, chicks and his own sexual prowess, while Silent Bob, true to his name, said nothing (a clever conceit for a first-time writer/director appearing on camera).

If not exactly forecasting a bright future for our heroes, the movie at least ended on a happy note.

But ten years later (twelve in real life, but who's counting?) Dante and Randal are now in their thirties and in color. Their jobs come to an end when the convenience/video stores burn down. Now they work at Mooby's, Smith's fictitious fast-food restaurant that appears in several of his films.

Randal is perfectly happy ridiculing the customers, and especially his younger co-worker Elias (Trevor Fehrman), a rabid Lord of the Rings and Transformers fan. But trouble comes to paradise as Dante is about to get married to Emma (played by Jennifer Schwalbach, the journalist whom Smith fell in love with during an interview and subsequently married).

Emma is beautiful and rich and her dad is going to give Dante a respectable job in Florida; that's all well and good, but Randal doesn't believe that Dante truly loves Emma. Randal happens to be right, because Dante is really in love with his Mooby's boss, Becky (Rosario Dawson).

That's enough drama for one movie, but as icing, Jay and Silent Bob return after a stint in rehab, having found religion (specifically Catholicism, Smith's own flock). Instead of hanging out in front of Mooby's selling drugs, they now hang out in front of Mooby's, sell drugs -- and try to convert their customers.

Of course, a bigger budget and time spent in Hollywood can now afford Smith some cameos, such as Smith vets Jason Lee and Ben Affleck, as well as comedienne Wanda Sykes and Kevin Weisman (TV's "Alias").

Smith manages to navigate these rather traditional plot threads with a kind of irreverent glee, splashing into them like a kid into a mud puddle. Yet he somehow avoids childish or bathroom humor; his rhythms and punchlines have a definite adult, professional ring.

His strength, of course, has always been his slap-happy dialogue, and his ingenuous personality, which comes through effortlessly and clearly in each film. He continues to work with friends and remains loyal even when the chips are down (i.e. Affleck), or when it's no longer politically correct (i.e. Harvey Weinstein).

Even young Fehrman came from within the circle; he was discovered by Jeff Anderson while working on his own directorial debut.

Smith has a strong internet presence, and is friendly to fans, but is not ruled by them.

He gamely admits his own drawbacks, which is a lack of cinematic sense; he is not and never will be an Ozu, Ophuls or Kubrick. But with help, such as Robert Yeoman's widescreen cinematography on Dogma or Vilmos Zsigmond's lush glow on Jersey Girl, he can deliver a professional product at least as good as half the other products in town.

He even apologizes for films that fail to connect with fans (Mallrats and Jersey Girl specifically). It is for these reasons that he inspires such passionate fans as well as passionate detractors.

Clerks II is as pure Smith as a film can get. It's not terribly ambitious, as Dogma or Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back were, nor is it terribly precious like Chasing Amy or Jersey Girl. It doesn't particularly care if you haven't seen Clerks I, and if you haven't, you'll miss several jokes -- and maybe even the point.

The only other comedies of note in 2006 are Art School Confidential, Thank You for Smoking, The Oh in Ohio and the first 30 minutes of The Devil Wears Prada -- and each of those plays sharply with the intent to skewer and/or satirize. "Clerks II" is an old school comedy, wise and silly and fun. You leave relaxed rather than taxed or insulted.

It's about funny people saying and doing funny things, like Preston Sturges used to make them. (Incidentally, Sturges was another guy without any particular grasp of cinematic language.)

Plus, how can you not love a film with a musical number set to the Jackson Five's "ABC"?

Starring: Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Trevor Fehrman, Jennifer Schwalbach, Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, Wanda Sykes, Kevin Weisman
Written by: Kevin Smith
Directed by: Kevin Smith
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive sexual and crude content including aberrant sexuality, strong language and some drug material
Running Time: 97 minutes
Date: July 21, 2006

Home
News
Search Reviews
Classic Movies
DVDs
Features
Film Books
Gallery
Links
About
The Rating System
Email Me
All scribblings © 1997-2007 Combustible Celluloid