Clerks (1994)

A day in the lives of two convenience clerks named Dante and Randal as they annoy customers, discuss movies, and play hockey on the store roof.

Director:

Kevin Smith

Writer:

Kevin Smith

Stars:

Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti

5 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brian O'Halloran	...	Dante Hicks
Jeff Anderson	...	Randal Graves
Marilyn Ghigliotti	...	Veronica
Lisa Spoonauer	...	Caitlin Bree
Jason Mewes	...	Jay
Kevin Smith	...	Silent Bob
Scott Mosier	...	Willam the Idiot Manchild / Angry Hockey-Playing Customer / Angry Mourner
Scott Schiaffo	...	Chewlies Rep
Al Berkowitz	...	Old Man
Walter Flanagan	...	Woolen Cap Smoker / Egg Man / Offended Customer / Cat-Admiring Bitter Customer (as Walt Flanagan)
Ed Hapstak	...	Sanford / Angry Mourner
Lee Bendick	...	#812 Wynarski
David Klein	...	Hunting Cap Smoking Boy / Low I.Q. Video Customer / Hubcap Searching Customer / Angry Mourner / Angry Crowd at Door
Pattijean Csik	...	Coroner
Ken Clark	...	Administer of Fine / Orderly

Storyline

Dante Hicks is not having a good day. He works as a clerk in a small convenience store and is told to come into work on his day off. Dante thinks life is a series of down endings and this day is proving to no different. He reads in the newspaper that his ex-girlfriend Caitlin is getting married. His present girlfriend reveals to have somewhat more experience with sex that he ever imagined. His principal concerns are the hockey game he has that afternoon and the wake for a friend who died. His buddy Randal Graves works as a clerk in the video store next and he hates his job just about as much as Dante hates his.

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Plot Keywords:

friendship | low budget film | friend | convenience store | stupidity | 

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Taglines:

It Delivers.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R on appeal for extensive use of extremely explicit sex-related dialogue

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 November 1994 (France)

Also Known As:

cLeRKs

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$27,575 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$31,665, 12 August 2012, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$3,151,130

Company Credits

Production Co:

View Askew Productions, Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 87 min (TV) 102 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Mono (original Sundance cut)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A Miramax employee read the screenplay to determine if the company wished to pick up the film for distribution. The reader came to the scene where Dante, angry over his girlfriend's sexual past, yells at an oblivious customer "My girlfriend sucked 37 dicks!" and the customer curiously says "In a row?" He laughed so hard that he stopped reading the script. He immediately visited the Vice President of Production and had him read the scene too. The VP green-lit the film for buying approval by Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein on the spot.

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Goofs

Different "People" magazines in the rack in different shots. The first time, the cover story is about Soleil Moon Frye's breast reduction surgery. The second time, the cover story is about the death of Brandon Lee.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dante Hicks: [phone rings and Dante falls out of a closet] Hello. What? No, I don't work today. I'm playing hockey at two.

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Crazy Credits

Wrangling Supervisor: Randal

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Alternate Versions

The DVD version also includes an alternate set of closing credits. Instead of music, the credits are shown over cash register sound effects. At the very end of the credits there's also a brief scene showing a customer (played by director Kevin Smith) entering the store. Seeing that nobody is behind the counter (Dante has been shot during the hold-up) he steals a pack of cigarettes and leaves.

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Connections

Spoofed in Plump Fiction (1997)

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Soundtracks

Making Me Sick
Written by Tommy Stinson (as T. Stinson), G. Gershunoff, R. Bradbury
Performed by Bash & Pop
Courtesy of Sire Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

A witty, hilariously profane cult picture

Clerks is one of those movies everyone knows everything about even before they've seen it. The most fascinating aspect is probably the back-story: Kevin Smith sold his comic-book collection to finance it, shot it in the convenience store where he was working at the time, and cast his school friends in the various roles (two of them wound up playing three or four characters each). The film became a huge hit at Sundance, and is now widely (and justly) considered one of the best independent movies of all time.

The plot is quite easy to sum up: nothing happens. It's just a "regular" day in the lives of a few people working in or outside a Quick Stop convenience store. The fun starts immediately, as Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) is asked to replace a sick colleague. This upsets him a lot, since it's supposed to be his day off ("You know what the worst part is? I'm not even supposed to BE here today!"). So now he has to serve a bunch of rather annoying or excessively weird people, with occasional help from his friend Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson), who "works" in the video store next to Quick Stop. Together, they discuss things like hermaphroditic porn or, Tarantino-style, which Star Wars sequel is better (Jedi or Empire?), and also try to find ways of not working, or at least make the day less boring (as Randal puts it:"This job would be great if it wasn't for the f**king customers"). Between these discussions, they also interact with Dante's present girlfriend Veronica (whose sex life causes heated debates) and ex Caitlin, who's apparently engaged to some Asian design major. And let's not forget Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith himself), two drug dealers consistently located outside the store.

Smith uses these characters to reference his favorite movies (the previously mentioned Star Wars, as well as Jaws and Indiana Jones) and talk about any subject in the filthiest way imaginable. Some incredibly outrageous stuff is mentioned ("jizz moppers", necrophilia, "snowballing"), but unlike John Waters, he never shows the events discussed by Dante, Randal et al. Everything occurs, or has occurred, off-screen, so all we get to do is have a good laugh, because no matter how crude it gets (the film is rated R for "Extensive Use Of Extremely Explicit Sex-Related Dialogue"), Smith's writing remains genuinely funny. Randal, in particular, steals every scene with his existential musings ("I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class. Especially since I rule.") or very politically incorrect antics (the top? Reading a list of pornographic flicks in front of a mother and her baby).

If you haven't seen it yet, do it, and fast: Clerks fully deserves its cult status. It has priceless dialogue, wisecracking characters and loads of swearing. What else can you ask for?