ClerksII (R)
Mike:
Scott:
Scott: Tonight we are reviewing Clerks 2
, Kevin Smith's revisit of the movie that made him, and a few other folks, famous 12 years ago.
What did you think Mike?
Mike: Dude, I loved it. I thought it was the funniest movie I have seen this year.
Scott: Wow, that's saying a lot.
Mike: I admit that I am a huge Kevin Smith fan and it would have had to really stink for me not to like it. That aside I really liked it.
Scott: Even funnier than Meet the Steins?
Mike: So what did you think?
Scott: I can't say that I thought it was that good. It had it's moments, but I don't think it was the funniest this year.
Mike: But are you a Kevin Smith fan?
Scott: I like most of his movies, but I haven't loved any of them. I liked Clerks ,but I didn't go bonkers over it like some people.
Mike: The original Clerks was amazing. I didn’t discover Kevin until his third movie, Chasing Amy.
Mike: I liked it so much I ended up watching the movies in reverse order. Next I saw Mallrats, which really cracked me up and then finished it by seeing Clerks.
Mike: I loves me the Kevin Smith dialogue.
Scott: I never saw Mallrats. I saw everything else though
Mike: People bad mouth it, but I think it is a genuinely funny film. This was the first time I saw My Name is Earl's Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee.
Scott: One thing it took a while to get over was how much Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) have aged since I last saw them. They are my age now and were my age then, so in looking at them I can see a little of how I changed.
Mike: They are pretty much only famous for Clerks, Clerks the Animated series, the short film The Flying Car and now Clerks 2.
Scott: Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) and Jay (Jason Mewes) pretty much look like they always have. I have seen them around since Clerks, the other two I hadn't seen in anything.
Mike: Randal really makes me laugh, even when he is animated.
Scott: He has the gift of gab, he can flow his dialogue well.
Mike: Who would think that you would ever laugh at an Anne Frank joke, but I did three separate times.
The lead females are Rosario Dawson and Smith's wife Jennifer Schwalbach. I have never been a big Rosario Dawson fan, but in this movie she converted me.
Scott: I started liking her in Josie and the Pussycats (that's right, it always comes back to that). She is very fun and the lone bright spot in this movie. Everyone, but her, is stuck on themselves in this movie.
Mike: Fun is a good word. Her character is definitely a woman that you would want to hang out with, if she would actually want to hang out with you.
Scott: I think she would, her character is about being friends with whomever, no preconceived notions about people.
Mike: I love the scene where she tries to teach Dante to dance. It's both touching and funny.
Scott: The movie starts without really moving in any direction, it doesn't get a rudder until she shows up.
Mike: The other standout is young actor Trevor Fehrman as Elias. This guy is the perfect victim for Randal Graves. The way he comes across as a shy, nervous, naive, transformer loving hobbit nerd is dead on.
Scott: He is over the top to an extent, but I enjoyed watching him for most of the movie. One of the final scenes with him was out of character and in the film more to shock than for any other reason.
Mike: I don't agree. I have known people who are just like that kid. You don't know whether to feel sorry for them or just join in making fun of them.
Mike: You believe that he believes in trolls-this will make much more sense later.
Scott: Those darn trolls just prevent all of the fun in life! The soundtrack for the film was good. There was some interesting song selections for the movie, and some of the dance moves were different.
Mike: The soundtrack is good. We start with the Talking Heads, we get a little Jackson 5 and we move to some Keane.
Mike: I also loved all the cameos at the Moobys. We get to see Ben Affleck and Jason Lee who both first got noticed in Kevin Smith films.
Scott: We also see Wanda Sykes and Randal's attempt to take back a certain un-PC phrase.
Mike: Sykes was a bonus; she never fails to crack me up, and Kevin Weisman, 'Marshall' of Alias fame.
Scott: I recognized Weisman, but not from Alias, really not sure from where.
Mike: Alias is pretty much his big claim to fame. He is probably there by virtue of friendships with Jennifer Garner and her husband, the aforementioned Affleck.
The scene with Randal, Elias and Weisman as a hobbit lover with a debate about the Lord of the Rings trilogy versus the Star Wars trilogy had me on the floor.
Scott: I like that there was some ribbing on the new Star Wars trilogy, someone needed to say it had issues.
Mike: This movie has plenty of jokes for and about nerds. I love these jokes, because they come from the ultimate guy next door successful nerd.
Kevin Smith.
Scott: He is a nerd made good.
What do you rate this?
Mike: I don't think there is any question after reading this review that I was very happy with this movie. I give it a 4 overall and a 4 as a Kevin Smith comedy. I am already waiting for the DVD.
And you?
Scott: I give it a 2.5 overall and a 2 for a comedy. It was funny, but it wasn't that funny. I think there were too many inside jokes and too much 'do you remember when' moments.
Mike: I guess I won't invite you over when Kevin comes over for dinner, then.
It could happen.....
Scott: No, actually, I would love to meet him. This movie had too much of a good thing.
Mike: At least its not 2.5 hours long. That is a trend that needs to be reversed Peter Jackson, Bryan Singer and Gore Verbinski!
This movie is better than working at a fast food restaurant.
Scott: Surprised you didn't say it was a good Mooby
