Clerks
National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
Convenience and video store clerks Dante and Randal are sharp-witted, potty-mouthed and bored out of their minds. So in between needling customers, the counter jockeys play hockey on the roof, visit a funeral home and deal with their love lives.
What critics thought
Kevin Smith's zero-budget debut found a devoted audience and strong critical support for its razor-sharp, digressive dialogue and its eerily accurate portrait of stalled young adulthood — the kind of film that gets funnier the more you recognize yourself in it. Critics were broadly positive but not uniformly rapturous, with some finding the bare-bones production a genuine limitation rather than a charming constraint. Its cult reputation has only grown since release, ultimately landing it in the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
“Within the limitations of his bare-bones production, Smith shows great invention, a natural feel for human comedy, and a knack for writing weird, sometimes brilliant, dialogue.”
Roger Ebert·Rogerebert.com
“Smith nails the obsessive verbal wrangling of smart, stalled twentysomethings who can't figure out how to get their ideas into motion.”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
Genres
Comedy
Cast & Crew
DirectorKevin Smith
StarringBrian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Lisa Spoonauer, Jason Mewes
Clerks
National Film Registry
Convenience and video store clerks Dante and Randal are sharp-witted, potty-mouthed and bored out of their minds. So in between needling customers, the counter jockeys play hockey on the roof, visit a funeral home and deal with their love lives.
What critics thought
Kevin Smith's zero-budget debut found a devoted audience and strong critical support for its razor-sharp, digressive dialogue and its eerily accurate portrait of stalled young adulthood — the kind of film that gets funnier the more you recognize yourself in it. Critics were broadly positive but not uniformly rapturous, with some finding the bare-bones production a genuine limitation rather than a charming constraint. Its cult reputation has only grown since release, ultimately landing it in the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
“Within the limitations of his bare-bones production, Smith shows great invention, a natural feel for human comedy, and a knack for writing weird, sometimes brilliant, dialogue.”
Roger Ebert·Rogerebert.com
“Smith nails the obsessive verbal wrangling of smart, stalled twentysomethings who can't figure out how to get their ideas into motion.”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
Genres
Comedy
Cast & Crew
DirectorKevin Smith
StarringBrian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Lisa Spoonauer, Jason Mewes
Rent/Purchase