Kevin Smith

Regardless of what happened after the success of 'Clerks', you had to respect Kevin Smith for following his dream by maxing out 10 credit cards and loaning money from friends just to make this movie. The total budget was an incredibly modest $27,575 and was largely filmed in the convenience store where Smith worked but at night when it was closed. This meant they had to close the shutters otherwise it would have been dark outside during scenes that were supposed to be in the daytime. In an age of multi-million pound blockbusters like the Transformers series which spend millions on special effects but little effort on actual plot lines and characters it shows what good writing can do.

Clerks follows a day at the Quick Stop run by conscientious Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) who is called in by his boss on his day off because another employee is sick. This starts the on-running gag in this film and others in the View Askewniverse (fictional world in which the films Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back & Clerks II exist) about how ''I'm not even supposed to be here today''. His friend Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) works at the video store next door although he turns up 2 hours late for work then spends most of the day in the Quick Stop with Dante discussing numerous topics including the end of Return of the Jedi.

Randal Graves and Dante Hicks at the Quick Stop

Both characters play off each other brilliantly and feel very natural in their roles which makes the whole film much more believable. The film also captures the sheer frustration of two young guys who are bored with their current jobs and, more so in Dante's case, bored with their lives. This is a story that so many people across the world can relate to, being stuck in a dead end job wishing there was more to life than this. Dante also has to deal with Randal annoying and offending the customers on a regular basis sometimes just to prove his ideas right (he may have been right about innocent people being killed on the Death Star in 'Return of the Jedi'). Adding to his woes is his private life which he also makes a mess of with the help of Randal. It's the realism in the film and the situations that many people relate to, as well as the comedy, that made people fall in love with it.

Smith's second film is Mallrats which is set one day before the events in Clerks and follows T.S Quint (Jeremy London) and Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee who is superb) after they get dumped by their respective girlfriends. They find solace in the local mall where they find look at different ways to get back together with their girlfriends as well as arguing about whether a cookie stand is part of the food court or ''an autonomous unit for mid-mall snacking''. Quint and Bruce share a similar chemistry as Randal and Dante from Mallrats but is less claustrophobic than a convenience store.

 The film was derided by critics upon release (what do they know) but is worth seeing for many reasons but the main one being Bruce's one man destruction of the character Gill Hicks (Brian O'Halloran again) during the gameshow. The film also starred an unknown Ben Affleck as Shannon Hamilton who runs a fashionable clothing shop who is most known for having sex with women in ''a very uncomfortable place''.I remember watching this film before Clerks and still have no idea what possessed me to buy it at the time but I certainly don't regret it. The humour is more obvious in this film than with Clerks but for me Jason Lee will always be remembered as Brodie Bruce.

Ben Affleck and Jason Lee bring us straight onto Chasing Amy, which is the third film by Smith, where they star as Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards respectively. Best friends who work as artists for comic books and have their friendship turned upside down by Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams) when Holden falls in love with her. Alyssa is a lesbian which makes things complicated and Banky doesn't help matters due to his dislike of Alyssa. This is Smith's story of romance and sexual relations which was very well received by critics after Mallrats but many fans I speak to tend to favour Mallrats as the better film.

Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards

 It certainly is the most mature of the first three films and delves deeper into friendships and the dynamics that exist within them. A three-way conversation at the end between the trio reveals some slightly startling revelations which I will not reveal here in case you haven't seen the film (shame on you).

Dogma, his fourth film, represents a step-up in budget for Smith and had more established movie stars in the cast. Matt Damon had become very popular following the success of Good Will Hunting which also featured Ben Affleck. Alan Rickman was another big name in the film which prompted Smith to make sure that Jason Mewes was ready for the role of playing Jay. He said this film had 'real actors' in so he needed to make sure he learnt his lines and in the end Mewes memorized everybody's lines for the entire film.

Damon and Affleck star as two fallen angels called Loki and Bartleby respectively, who have been banished from heaven after resigning as the Angel of Death when drunk. The only way back into heaven is to pass through the doors of the Red Bank church in New Jersey but unknown to them this will over rule God and destroy existence. Bethany Sloane (Linda Fiorentino) is tasked by the Voice of God to stop this happening and his helped by Jay & Silent Bob. Smith has never been one to shy away from controversy in his film making especially with regards to religion which is also shown in his recent film Red State. Although not many people can argue with Alanis Morrisette being casted as God.

Jay and Silent Bob strike back is finally the film that casts the two stoners as the main characters and has the story revolve around them rather than have them acting in the background. The comic book based on their likeness has been made into a film by Miramax but they have not been paid the royalties that they are entitled to, the film follows a road-trip as they first visit Holden McNeil who sold his half to Banky Edwards and then on to Hollywood to stop the film (so people will stop writing bad things about them on the internet). The film features some well-known names in smaller roles like Seann William Scott, Eliza Dushku & a superb cameo by Chris Rock as the film director who is making the movie.

As a film, it has quite a few funny moments and a lot of 'in' jokes for fans who have seen the previous four films in the View Askewniverse. Despite this, there is a lot going on in this film that there aren't many moments to catch up with all that is happening. Fans of more random comedies will certainly appreciate this film more but still manages to take a swipe at the movie industry itself.


Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran return in Clerks II

Clerks II rounds off the list (for now) which re-visits Randal Graves and Dante Hicks 10 years after the first film. They now work at Mooby's fast food restaurant after the Quick Stop burns down (due to Randal leaving the coffee pot on overnight) and follow a similar pattern in managing to annoy customers whilst discussing Star Wars and other movies. This time Dante is preparing to move to Florida with his fiancée Emma which Randal is unhappy about as this will leave him on his own but there are also lingering feelings between Dante and his boss Becky.

This film tries to re-capture the magic of the first by placing Randal & Dante in a very similar situation which in the large part it succeeds in doing. Don't expect too much in the way of subtlety in some of the jokes but then that's never been Randal's style (may want to avoid the donkey scene). It is the ultimate middle finger to people in the rat race and proves that a film can be entertaining even if the characters aren't doing much more than just hanging around and talking. But in the end it shows that we all have to grow up at some point and that sometimes even people who have no ambition to succeed find a way to do so.

I think these films represent what Kevin Smith is about as a director in his ability to write great scripts and characters that you care about as well as entertain you. My main aim with this post is to push people who have never seen these films into watching them and seeing what all the fuss is about!