The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

One of the best film ever made in history. i worked as a clerk many years and i've met all these kinds of people.. i did some randall's quotes and stuff lol

When was the last time you had a day at work turn into an existential crisis? If you work in retail or any other service industry for that matter, it's likely more often than you care to admit. If you're Dante Hicks, it was on your day off. Played by Brian O'Halloran, Dante gets called in to cover for a sick co-worker at the Quick Stop convenience store. Dante is joined by his articulate slacker co-worker, Randal (Jeff Anderson), who mans the video store next door, albeit poorly. In between closing shop to play hockey on the roof and getting thrown out of a wake for knocking over a casket, the duo encounters a revolving cast of exaggeratedly eccentric characters; including the loitering drug dealers, Jay and Silent Bob, played by Jason Mewes and writer/director himself, Kevin Smith. An already trying day only gets worse for Dante as he finds himself caught in between his current girlfriend Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti) and his ex, Caitlin (Lisa Spoonauer). Dante is forced into self-examination, with plenty of witty and profane commentary from friends and patrons along the way.Are we defined by what we do for a living? This question seems to be ingrained in almost every scene. Throughout the film, many of the roles are characterized by the person's job. They define themselves by what they do. Each with a different standard for what it means to be happy or successful. Education, sex, relationships, physical appearance, and dealing with fears or anxieties are all addressed in some way, but none more so than occupation. Each customer with substantial dialogue relates via their employment; the Chewlie's gum rep. that incites an anti-tobacco riot. The roofer who weighs in on the Star Wars debate. The personal trainer who insists Dante is out of shape. The most eloquent and insightful, however, comes when a customer states "It's important to have a job that makes a difference, boys. That's why I manually masturbate caged animals for artificial insemination."Dante and Randal's outlook and subsequent behavior in this regard is wildly different. Dante believes his job defines him but is unable to change his situation for the better. Begrudgingly, he performs his job duties, for the most part, in consideration of his employer to maintain some semblance of being good at his job. He is obedient and non-confrontational. On several occasions his passive subservience is explicit in his attempts to pacify customers for their inconveniences; letting an old man have a roll of softer toilet paper and a nudie mag to take to the employee bathroom, or refunding money to a customer Randal spits on. When Veronica suggests he quit and go back to school he avoids the notion by saying "the last thing I need at this point is a lecture" followed by his oft exclaimed "I'm not even supposed to be here today" (Smith, 1994). Randall, on the other hand, either doesn't believe his job defines him, or doesn't care if that is how others perceive him. He is insubordinate and impulsive. He disregards his responsibilities and is content in his deficiency. He confronts Dante, saying "You overcompensate for having what's basically a monkey's job. You push f#%kin' buttons! Anybody could waltz in here and do our jobs. You're so obsessed with making it seem so much more epic, so much more important than it really is."Shot on a tight budget, and its setting limited almost entirely to the convenience store, the film was shot in black and white as a solution to lighting issues and as a cost saving measure. However, it adds to the overall film by allowing the viewer to focus on the characters and on-screen action without diversion. Efficient and creative use of camera angles keeps the setting from becoming dull. As a result, the film has a unique and pleasant texture and following the characters for the entirety of their workday ties in nicely with the theme.Ultimately, Clerks doesn't offer any profound insights, or even really tackle the question asked by its theme. None of the characters really change in an appreciable way, and for all the trouble they go through, seem likely to continue their lives unaffected. That being said, Dante and Randal are convincing and relatable, the dialog is witty and memorable, and the caricature exaggeration of the customers is genuinely funny, especially to anyone who has had the joy of working in customer service or retail. I think we could all agree with Randal when he says, "This job would be great if it wasn't for the f#%kin' customers." Clerks is a satirical observation of the customer service industry much like Office Space (1999) is of white collar careers, but with its own uniquely charismatic style. I've seen this film at least a couple dozen times now, and it's still hilarious every time.

-----SPOILERS AHEAD-----I love this film, some people might hate it, but I think it's the true definition of Black Comedy. I liked this movie better than Clerks II, even though, because I don't really plan reviewing Clerks II, I thought it was a 7/10. But this one is better in any way, shape or form. Dante is a shop clerk who normally gets in trouble thanks to his friend Randal, a troublesome boy who also works in the shop, for example, Randal showed a picture of a gaping vagina to a customer, he often annoys other customers, and gave cigarettes to a 4 year old, which caused Dante to lose 2 of his friends (I believe). Later on in the film, we discover that Dante's girlfriend "Veronica" had sex with a dead body, which became a major impact to me. Dante and Randal are seen wrestling in one scene, seriously injured, but then they make up for all the trouble that happened. There WAS an original ending to the film, which was Dante getting gunned down by a robber, which at first I didn't know it was there, but I was happy that wasn't the original ending, because it didn't have any context to the film, it happened randomly, and it wasn't essential for the film. Overall, this film is definitely a nice example of black comedy, I really liked it.

Maybe because I am used to Hollywood movies, this movie was really weird for me but I kinda liked it. It gives nice perspective of someone working on a dead-end job, but in order to survive, he thinks of himself of someone special. There is a dialog of Dante with neighboring clerk at the end of the movie, which was really inspiring. There they mention how insignificant anybody actually is but they still believe they are the most unique person ever. I think this is a very common problem and realizing this will benefit everyone. Actors were following the script 100%, this felt really amateur but also kinda cool. Maybe it was intentional. I recommend this especially who are working on a day-to-day job.