‘Clerks III’ for Kevin Smith devotees only
“Get off the pot.”
That second part of a well-known line from Kevin Smith’s debut “Clerks, returns in “Clerks III,” a movie that spends much of its running time restaging memorable moments from the 1994 original.
Endearing in spots and occasionally funny, “Clerks III” will likely satisfy Smith’s core fanbase, at least to the extent of his last nostalgia trip, 2019’s “Jay and Silent Reboot.” Smith makes his real-life heart attack a central plotline in “Clerks III,” and, look, he can make whatever movie he wants with the characters he created.
For me, though, I think I might officially be off the Kevin Smith pot.
My movie fandom aligned with the rise of Smith’s career, and, throughout high school and early adulthood, I considered “Clerks,” “Dogma” and, yes, even “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” as some of my favorite movies. After a few commercial misfires, Smith made “Clerks II” in 2006 and found a clever way to bring Quik Stop employees Dante Hicks (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) into a raunchy-but-thoughtful comedy about getting older and wrestling with how to define a “good, successful life.”
Since “Clerks II,” however, I haven’t connected with any of Smith’s projects, though, to be fair, the production quality, for various reasons, don’t match even the lo-fi charm of his early work.
After being mostly baffled by the inertness of “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot,” I pegged “Clerks III” as a make-or-break moment. Unfortunately, whatever Smith is trying to do in “Clerks III” is simply not for me.
For one, the new film makes a disappointing (and at this point, annoyingly cliché) choice with the character of Becky (Rosario Dawson), a character in “Clerks II” who returns for a smaller role here. It essentially restores Dante and Randal back to a baseline at the Quik Stop, though Dante’s relationship with Becky becomes a key element as “Clerks III” shifts away from being a comedy.
Randal, meanwhile, suffers a massive heart attack in the opening minutes, though, thankfully, an unorthodox doctor (a hilarious cameo by Amy Sedaris) saves the clerk’s life. After his near-death experience, Randal decides to make a movie about his life at the store, and the script sounds awfully like what we saw in the original “Clerks.”
So begins a buffet line of cameos by folks from the original film as well as other familiar faces (never bet against a memorable Ben Affleck cameo). Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith), hang around too, of course, even though portraying themselves in the movie-within-the-movie becomes a challenge for the surprisingly camera-shy dynamic duo.
“Clerks III” lands a few funny moments, though not nearly at the rate of the original. It seems intentional for the most part, as Smith wants to explore death in a way he hasn’t grappled with before. Unfortunately, the dramatic moments become weighed down by wooden, treacly dialogue that much of the cast can’t overcome (though Anderson, who probably doesn’t even consider himself to be an actor, is the most effective and clear MVP of the movie). It doesn’t help matters that Smith repeatedly resorts to distracting, melodramatic music cues to overemphasize his intent of each scene.
As for the third act, well, I don’t want to be in the spoiler game, but it’s just as wrongheaded as the Becky subplot. It’s a cheap and largely unearned shift that sours the comedic elements of the film while also fumbling for the opportunity to say something meaningful about these characters.
Judging by the overall fan reaction to “Clerks III,” it seems like Kevin Smith devotees are deeply satisfied with where the film goes. I’m happy for them. At this point, however, I just think I’m the wrong audience member for the kinds of movies Smith now wants to make.
But hey, Kevin, keep throwing us those Affleck cameos, and I’m bound to keep giving you a chance.
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Tyler Wilson is a member of the International Press Academy and has been writing about movies and pop culture for Inland Northwest publications since 2000, including a regular column in The Press since 2006. He can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.