FILMBRATS - REVIEWS

Dante is a convenience store clerk. It’s a typical summer job for a college age guy like him. The only problem is that he’s not going to college. This is essentially his career, and he’s slowly going insane from the people he has to deal with. Plus, now he has to come in on his day off. Randal is in a similar situation. He works the video store next door. Only Randal doesn’t care as much. He locks the store regularly to come in and chat with his best friend Dante. And they have a lot to talk about this particular Saturday. It seems like Murphy’s Law is in full effect. Will Dante survive the day? After all, he’s not even supposed to be here today.

You really haven’t seen an independent movie until you’ve seen one on the level of “Clerks.” This film was made completely separate from any industry persuasion or influence. The budget is minimal; the crew, even smaller. The result is what looks like a feature-length student film that hit the big time, and for good reason. Rarely do you see DIY filmmakers actually make something that the general public would want to see. It’s easy to see right off the bat, that this was not just made for a group of friends, but rather as an essay (albeit intelligently juvenile and crude) on the dumbing down of society and the ridiculousness of our menial everyday lives. The message comes across loud and clear through Dante and Randal’s reprehensible actions and misadventures, but also through their taut diatribes.

Kevin Smith (writer/director/portrayer of drug dealer Silent Bob) could have given us dialogue that was a little more conventional and conversational, but it would have lost a lot of its appeal. I know I certainly don’t know anyone who talks like that, with that type of structure and language use, nor do I speak like that. But the rhythm and flow of the words give the sex jokes an almost iambic pentameter feel. The other plus to this manner of speaking is to really separate the clerks (that many would deem as lowly creatures) from the “smarter” customers. It helps to give them a sense of false superiority and disdain towards everyone else. They think they’re better than everybody, because in this world, they are.

The dialogue moves quickly, but the plot line moves quicker. The editing is pretty good, not because of any spectacular cuts or balance acts between scenes, but rather for simply keeping the pace moving at a nice steady pace. You’ll never know exactly what to expect next, but you can be sure that it will happen sooner than later. It’s good that the script works so well, because the visual side of it all falls pretty flat. The cinematography is downright awful. Aside from one scene while the two leads are in the car, where the camera swishes back and forth, the camera lies stagnant. The composition is as basic and un-artistic as it gets. I’m glad it didn’t feel pretentious, but it also felt unskilled or perhaps even as if the camera were unmanned. I didn’t like how they felt the need to put those cheesy musical stings at the end of a couple of the jokes either. That completely detracted from the generally consistent mood of the picture.

Lastly, the acting is completely horrible as well. Brian O’Halloran (Dante) and Jeff Anderson (Randal) are new to the acting scene and the inexperience shows. I understand the dialogue is tough, but it’s precisely that reason as to why these two are so bad. I also didn’t really find the movie overwhelmingly funny. The script is sharp and extremely witty, but not gut-busting hilarious. It certainly has its moments and can easily be quoted to death, but being able to empathize with the characters doesn’t make it funnier. Still, despite its faults, “Clerks” is great for accomplishing what it did with so little. Are there better unknown films out there? I sure hope so, and if not, hopefully this will inspire more people to make one.

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