2006, MGM/The Weinstein Company, Dir. Kevin Smith - Starring Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Trevor Fehrman, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, Jason Lee, Zak Charles Knutson, Kevin Weisman, Wanda Sykes

Kevin Smith’s directorial debut ‘Clerks’ has become a masterpiece of raunchy humor and offbeat dialogue, a sort of memorial to the daily worker and the heated - yet pointless - arguments he becomes involved in. The original film is a dialogue-driven machine with characters that audience members actually care about - real people with great senses of humor. So once ‘Clerks II’ was in production, I had my hopes up. My hopes rose wth every screening of that trailer, and once I was finally watching it, I couldn’t believe it. Not only was this a good sequel, it was the perfect sequel - an flippant sensation, with so much heart and soul pumped into it, I couldn’t believe. Not since ‘Anchorman’ and ‘Team America’ have I laughed so hard at a comedy, and it gives great pleasure to say ‘Clerks II’ is (so far, but it’ll be hard to top) the best comedy of the year. Dante and Randal are back in full form, with plenty to say - after nearly a decade of change in the world. This is not a movie for the easily offended, as it will enervate groups ranging from the NAACP to PETA to the average online Lord of the Rings forums. But its comedy is unbeatable, its romance is believable, and when it speaks from the heart - it’s unforgettable.

Dante’s probably not supposed to be there that day, but when he arrives at the Quick Stop, he realizes it’s in the midst of being burnt down entirely. Flash forward a year, and Dante (O’Halloran) and Randal (Anderson) are now working at the local Mooby’s fast food joint. A lot has changed in the past decade, worldwide and personally. It’s the last day for Dante in New Jersey, as he is soon to marry the hyperactive and overpowering Emma (Schwalbach Smith) and move with her down to Florida. He’s afraid to marry, but more afraid to dance at the wedding - he couldn’t imagine to screw up the most important day of his life. Conversely, Randal is Randal - living life how he wants to, and not letting anyone tell him differently. He’s afraid for Dante to, especially since he feels his relationship with Emma is overly controlled, and that he’ll be losing his best friend. Meanwhile, Dante is having a second thoughts, due to the affair he had the attractive boss of their Mooby’s franchise, Becky (Dawson). Is Becky the right match for him? Does he really want to give up the lousy job he has with Randal to move to Florida? Questions and pop culture references plague the characters of ‘Clerks II’, with outrageous consequences. And then there’s Jay (Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith).

Randal describes himself and Dante as being the ‘yin and yang’, and how true it is for actors Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson. These two average guys who eventually became actors just seem to have the perfect buddy chemistry - one agrees, the other disagrees. The duo are a regular Gallant and Goofus show, arguing which menial tasks they have to do, or whether Anne Frank or Helen Keller was disabled. Of course, Anderson’s Randal will never admit to his faults - which often lead them into the worst-case scenarios. O’Halloran, in his romance scenes, is an incredibly likable figure - an intelligent yet sensitive person whose fear of leaving Jersey is beginning to creep into his veins. Anderson, who is respectively worried for the character of Dante, gives a heartwarming, and human, speech towards the end that I nearly teared up for. Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith are again the ubiquitous Jay and Silent Bob, always appearing at the right times to mix with the ecclectic humor the director infuses with the scene. Rosario Dawson gives a sweet performance as a wholly believable non-romantic - a woman whose views of “love” are unconventional, yet she can not hide her love for Dante. And newcomer Trevor Fehrman seems to blend in just right with Smith’s little Jersey universe, as he plays Elias, the evangelical Christian teenager with an affinity of Lord of the Rings and Transformers…but don’t ask him about his girlfriend. That’s a whole other story.

There’s so much to talk about in ‘Clerks II’, despite its lack of people and places it involves. But in that one little Mooby’s store, a lot goes down. The humor does cross the line at times, and that is sure to offput many audience members. Joel Siegel from ‘Good Morning America’ walked out at the beginning of the third act, involving a “donkey show” that results in one of the year’s funniest climaxes. Director Smith, who has had trouble in the past sewing together his own filthy humor with serious material (see ‘Dogma’, an irreverent skidmark on his resume), but ‘Clerks II’ does it with taste and precision. The finale has Dante, Randal, Jay, and Silent Bob sitting in jail after their messy goodbye party to Hicks goes awry. Here, despite the occasional curses and swipes, is where the true talent in Smith is revealed. The scene projects a sign of maturity for the director, a coming-of-age revelation for the characters that the average audience will embrace. It highlights the importance of friendship and the life events that can single-handedly alter said friendships, and love - all surrounded by a shell of ribald jokes and profanity. The action gets out of hand, and its offbeat humor seldom upstages the character’s human nature, but overall the film is a massive achievement on Smith’s part. Imagine if Frank Capra directed the Marx Brothers in one final production - ‘Clerks II’ is a part dadaist, part realist portrait of growing up.

This is a very different work that ‘Clerks’, where Dante and Randal are introduced as pawns in the grueling workplace, then fleshed out as interesting and complex characters. It feels more sturdy, more intimate - and dirtier. As the last scene crescendos into a black-and-white shot of the Quick Stop, you’ll already feel back at home. Bravo, Kevin Smith.