Clerks (Film Review)

1994 Miramax Films
Written and Directed by: Kevin Smith
Starring: Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Jason Mewes, and Lisa Spoonauer
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 92 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 8/10

Dante and Randal have jobs, but they don't really work. Dante clerks behind the counter at a New Jersey convenience store, and Randal clerks in the same strip mall, at the video store next door. The acerbic Randal spends most of his time at the convenience store, pestering Dante. Dante spends most of his time trying to decide which of two suitors he should court, while incessantly complaining about his life. Is this all Dante and Randal have? Is this meniality their peak? Perhaps this one crazy day, where Randal has to work someone else's shift, holds the answer. Whatever happens, Dante knows one thing--he's not even supposed to be here today.
With less than $30,000 cobbled together from every resource available, Kevin Smith created the greatest cinematic ode to the mundanity of low-level employment ever made. Employing naturalistic dialogue, spoken from amateur actors who suit their roles perfectly, Smith walks a tightrope, realistically portraying what could be an ordinary day for just about anyone making minimum wage (this reviewer speaks from experience), but making that day funny and entertaining (and from experience, many of those days were!). Sure, the film's events grow heightened by the end, but Clerks builds to them naturally, in a way that makes the outlandish climax feel inevitable. Underneath the mundanity, there are themes kicking around about life and existence, customer vs employer, and while they may not be explored with incredible depth, they're still a welcome presence.
For me, though, the way Clerks enshrines and immortalizes the 90s may be its greatest factor, even though, and maybe especially because it's shot and presented in black and white. From the light grunge of the soundtrack, to the film's fun, yet slightly cynical slacker tone, to the feeling of beautiful 90s freedom, no cellphones, any free moment full of possibility, whether you're a convenience store clerk, or the customer...I miss the 90s.