Art imitates life.
So,
I finally got around to watching CLERKS III (2022), a film that makes
it a score of 3 for 3 in the trilogy of CLERKS movies, by which I refer
to the continuing streak of quality. The trilogy is now complete, after a
sixteen-year gap between installments, and the characters still have
not exceeded their sell-by date.
Writer/director/actor Kevin
Smith mines his own experiences with having had a heart attack and
funnels them to the screen through the eternally assholish Randall (the
superb Jeff Anderson), who, upon surviving "the widowmaker," is hit with
a creative epiphany that spurs him to write and direct the story of his
and Dante's (Brian O'Halloran) experiences as video store and
convenience store clerks. It's all an excuse to recreate the making of
the first film, but what makes it sing are the emotional beats, of which
there are plenty. CLERKS III delivers hear-rending (pun intended) gut
punches while also depicting the heart attack ER experiences with 100%
accuracy, and I say that with authority because I have been there. No
lie, I teared-up several times during the the film, and I intend to
watch it again.
The always welcome return of Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith).
Hilariously
profane (as expected) and genuinely touching, this brings the humble
CLERKS story to a full-circle end, tying everything in the neatest of
bows. RECOMMENDED, though you absolutely have to have seen the previous
two installments, as it is loaded to the rafters with narrative
callbacks featuring situations and characters from CLERKS and CLERKS II.
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