Clerks III

Directed by Kevin Smith, Clerks III follows Jeff Anderson’s Randal as he decides to make a movie about his convenience-store experiences after surviving a heart attack – with the endeavor eventually involving such series stalwarts as Brian O’Halloran’s Dante, Jason Mewes’ Jay, and Smith’s Silent Bob. It’s an inherently irresistible premise that’s employed to somewhat erratic but mostly engrossing effect by Smith, as the filmmaker, armed with his own screenplay, delivers a consistently compelling sequel that only grows more and more enthralling (and spellbinding) as it progresses – with the movie faltering only when focused on the less-than-captivating (and far too broad) exploits of certain periphery figures. (Trevor Fehrman’s Elias, for example, undergoes a transformation that is, to put it mildly, more than a little silly.) There’s little doubt, then, that Clerks III‘s palpable success comes down is due predominantly to the narrative’s increasingly heartfelt (and flat-out emotional) bent, and it doesn’t hurt, either, that Smith has elicited career-best work from both Anderson and O’Halloran – with the latter turning in an almost astonishingly effective and affecting turn as the completely sympathetic Dante. By the time the shamelessly manipulative yet wholeheartedly satisfying climactic stretch rolls around, Clerks III has cemented its place as a first-class, full-circle installment that does, if this is indeed the final entry in the Clerks saga, close out the franchise to an exceedingly rewarding degree.

***1/2 out of ****