A decade later, Dante and Randal still work at Quick Stop and RST Video, respectively. That is, until it burns down. Rather than moving on with their lives, the pair take up employment at another demeaning and degrading locale... the fast food restaurant.
Shortly after this film's release, it was sitting as an 8.3 out of 10 on IMDb. That's a little bit high. Even now, at 7.8, it seems a stretch. I mean, I know you love Kevin Smith, but you know as well as I do this is not his best film.
But nor is it his worst. This film hit me hard in the gut, made me sad. Because I finally felt I was saying goodbye to characters I grew up with. I've seen all the films opening day in the theater since 1995's "Mallrats" when I was 14, so almost half my life has been shared with these characters. They are my cinematic family. And after this one, I don't ever expect to see them again.
See, the strength of this film is our connection to the characters. We have to identify with them. My generation, and especially my clique, knows what it's like to approach 30 and still be in a dead-end job or have no job, no family and no viable housing. We know what it's like to waste time and talk about nothing. Not that this is a good thing, but these are the truisms in Dante and Randal: we all need to grow up, but some of us do it in ways others will not.
Not to say the film isn't funny. Granted, it's not as funny as "Clerks", "Chasing Amy" or "Mallrats". I see there being two periods in Smith's writing of humor, with these three being in the first period and all other films in the second. His drift from witty dialog to action sequences is his downfall.
The references are stale (Transformers? Lord of the Rings?) and the dialog, Smith's best skill, is weak and thin. More conversation, less filler and this film would have been a masterpiece. But I appreciated the "Silence of the Lambs" jokes and other oddities. And I certainly liked the cameos being kept to a minimum -- the lack of "faces" is what made Clerks even better. Although Affleck is drifting back into obscurity, I think. Not unlike Steve Guttenberg.
I felt that the jokes and references were forced. The parallels between this film and the first were nice, but again forced. I mean, the "not even supposed to be here today" line was not needed, though the Milk Maid shot was good. Attempts to make this a big movie left me feeling distant -- did we need so many hit songs? Do we need Dante driving around contemplating life? I don't know... not the film I would have wanted to see.
If you like bestiality, smut talk, go-karts and some great racial slurs, this film is for you. If you don't, it's not. And if you never knew these characters before, you might want to acquaint yourself first. If you're going to be saying goodbye, you may as well say hello first.
Shortly after this film's release, it was sitting as an 8.3 out of 10 on IMDb. That's a little bit high. Even now, at 7.8, it seems a stretch. I mean, I know you love Kevin Smith, but you know as well as I do this is not his best film.
But nor is it his worst. This film hit me hard in the gut, made me sad. Because I finally felt I was saying goodbye to characters I grew up with. I've seen all the films opening day in the theater since 1995's "Mallrats" when I was 14, so almost half my life has been shared with these characters. They are my cinematic family. And after this one, I don't ever expect to see them again.
See, the strength of this film is our connection to the characters. We have to identify with them. My generation, and especially my clique, knows what it's like to approach 30 and still be in a dead-end job or have no job, no family and no viable housing. We know what it's like to waste time and talk about nothing. Not that this is a good thing, but these are the truisms in Dante and Randal: we all need to grow up, but some of us do it in ways others will not.
Not to say the film isn't funny. Granted, it's not as funny as "Clerks", "Chasing Amy" or "Mallrats". I see there being two periods in Smith's writing of humor, with these three being in the first period and all other films in the second. His drift from witty dialog to action sequences is his downfall.
The references are stale (Transformers? Lord of the Rings?) and the dialog, Smith's best skill, is weak and thin. More conversation, less filler and this film would have been a masterpiece. But I appreciated the "Silence of the Lambs" jokes and other oddities. And I certainly liked the cameos being kept to a minimum -- the lack of "faces" is what made Clerks even better. Although Affleck is drifting back into obscurity, I think. Not unlike Steve Guttenberg.
I felt that the jokes and references were forced. The parallels between this film and the first were nice, but again forced. I mean, the "not even supposed to be here today" line was not needed, though the Milk Maid shot was good. Attempts to make this a big movie left me feeling distant -- did we need so many hit songs? Do we need Dante driving around contemplating life? I don't know... not the film I would have wanted to see.
If you like bestiality, smut talk, go-karts and some great racial slurs, this film is for you. If you don't, it's not. And if you never knew these characters before, you might want to acquaint yourself first. If you're going to be saying goodbye, you may as well say hello first.