Sin #17: Clerking

I used to work at a video store for a while. It was a dull job since there were hardly any customers and the place was so small you could barely move through its tiny halls. I remember sitting down at the counter waiting for the hours to pass while I stared at a small screen with the same movies playing over and over (maybe hell is something similar except it will only play one movie: “Mrs. Doubtfire”). Being a clerk isn’t fun unless you hang out with other people in your current situation.

Kevin Smith’s “Clerks” understands this. In a way it’s one of the defining movies of the so-called “Generation X”; it’s about characters who never moved on (they didn’t go to college, get married or even imagined climbing the employment ladder).

For Randal and Dante life consists on making inane conversations about everything; from the weird costumers, to hockey, to even “Star Wars” (Smith’s movies reference them all the time). All they get to do is jibber witty remarks all day long. (It also appears that they do double shifts since they don’t have anything better to do).

“Clerks” is a very funny movie that features an assured and intelligent script (even though it’s filled with profanity and vulgarity) that captures the voice of that particular generation. It certainly made an impact at the time and gave Kevin Smith his pass to make other films (including the brilliant and controversial “Dogma”).

The sequel came more than a decade later and even though it contains hilarious sequences (especially one that involves a debate between a “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” fan) it somehow lacks the freshness of the original. It also seems that parenthood changed Smith since it features sweet and tender moments that don’t really fit with the personality of the characters. It appears Smith has gone soft on us.

The two clerk films are very entertaining movies that capture the feeling of being “stuck in a moment” and somehow realizing that it’s never too late to grow up and face adulthood (even when these guys feel way too old to be realizing it). It’s also a way to enjoy Smith’s dialogues and the way the actors have fun reciting them.