Slackers in a time warp

Brian O'Halloran and Jason Mewes star in Clerks II
10 April 2012

Made in black and white, in 1994, Kevin Smith's Clerks was the genuinely original, if provokingly scatological, saga of a group of hapless slackers either working in or hanging around a New Jersey Quick Stop grocery. Now they're older and, if a little sadder, essentially the same.

The trouble is, this time around it's all a bit predictable, as though Smith's skills have stopped short of anything but a scattergun approach vaguely reminiscent of the previous movie.

The humour is broader and even includes a scene of "inter-species erotica". But it's definitely not funnier.

The action is again framed by one day as Dante (Brian O'Halloran), now working with Randal (Jeff Anderson) at a fast food joint, contemplates driving off to Florida with his fiancée, leaving his best friend behind. He never gets there, of course.

Laughs there are as Dante and Randal ruminate on the relative merits of the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings franchises, or when Dante winces at Randal's persistent obscenities. But somehow the original spark is missing. Smith and his characters seem in a time warp of their own.

Clerks II
Cert: 15

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