nick (10 out of 10 ) this may be the most genius movie ever made its fuc**n amazing if u dont have this movie deffintitly pick this s**t up
Marky (10 out of 10 ) A critic once described Kevin Smith's writing style in Clerks as "David Mamet meets Howard Stern", i don't believe in that at all, i believe he's better than both.
Not only hilariously funny, but brilliantly original, and that's the key to it's success. Clerks is something almost never seen before, with instantly quotable lines that were obviously written but at the same time ring true to life.
If anyone wants a free lesson in how to write a brilliant script with developed characters, ironic humour and fantastic dialogue, look no further than Clerks.
Silent Bob Wanna-be (10 out of 10 ) This Movie is just out of this world good! I mean its so great even though it doesn't look so good which is where the script is really good to read! I mean Kevin Smith is just a movie making Legend - you can keep your Cameron's and your Lucas's and your heck even your McTeirnan (Although Die Hard does rock!) and give me a Kevin Smith movie any day of the year - even Jersey Girl!
Random (9 out of 10 ) I love this movie and I hate myself for loving it. Despite containing some of the worst acting I've ever seen, and I do mean truly bad, worse-than-your-third-grade-play bad, the movie still manages to be horribly fun. Ok, so most of the acting is awful, but maybe he did that on purpose to highlight the genius of the words. I have to give all credit to the script. The writing is fantastic. A 10. The acting doesn't even rate a 1 - it's a negative 1, which is why my rating for the movie overall is a 9. But still, if you haven't seen it (and you're over 18), what's wrong with you??
[pseudonym] (10 out of 10 ) I dont belive that the acting in this movie was "bad" at all! I think this movie had, actually, some of the best acting that i've ever seen. Actors like Mel Gibson and Jim Carey make huge amounts of money for being terrible actors. Yet, Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson act perfectly portrayed and developed characters with subtltey and pristine comic timing and get virtually no recognition besides a cult following. Ridiculous.
josh (10 out of 10 ) This film is so funny and amazing I loved it so much that I've used it as an inspiration for my movie.
James (10 out of 10 ) Without a doubt the greatest, most intelligent Kevin Smith film made. I am a personal fan of Chasing Amy as well but Clerks is PHENOMENAL. Terrific dialogue and everything. Not a lot of people can make a film where ninety percent of the film is at a Quickstop Store and keep your interest but Smith makes it work.
Julia (10 out of 10 ) I just watched Clerks for the millionth time, this time with while reading the script. Finally, after years of loving this movie for its simplicity and conceptual ramblings, I found an aspect that makes this movie that much better. Maybe I am slow on the uptake in this case, but the Dante's Inferno link is really amazing in this movie. The movie is absolutely broken down into Dante's nine circles of hell evident by the words that cut scenes and the alternate ending of Dante dying. If you didn't know about that connection definitely watch the movie again with this in mind. I am watching it again as I write with a copy of Dante's hell section in front of me, who knew.
Chris (10 out of 10 ) Dialogue is the quintessential element that makes up the core of any movie. And this film has dialogue galore. It was stated in one of the previous comments that not everyone can make a movie where 90% of the story takes place in a convienience store and keep an audiences' attention. But because of the dialogue, this movie keeps everyone's attention. The dialogue in this movie is nothing short of genius. Not just anyone could write the lines spoken by Dante, Randal, Veronica and Caitlin, it took someone like Kevin Smith to write the words they speak. Some of the things they say in this movie are some of the greatest lines spoken in the history of cinema. Me personally, the first conversation spoken by Dante and Randal totally blew me away. Each of the lines spoken sounded like they were meant to be. To me this is Kevin Smith's greatest movie, while not appealing to everyone, anyone who dislikes this movie is missing out on an incredible experience. I would argue that Kevin Smith's a genius. The dialogue is incredible, the characters are excellent, the acting is dead on and the story's hilarious. Clerks is impossibly brilliant.
Ashley (9 out of 10 ) Although I can't agree that this movie has excellent acting (you'll see when you watch it the actors seem to forget their lines sometimes, and some of it sounds forced), the dialogue truly is absolute brilliance. I watched this movie with my mouth gaping open at every line. How any one man can write something this good blows my mind. Kevin Smith really is a genius, that much is evident.
Brandon (10 out of 10 ) It's the best Kevin Smith film besides Clerks 2.
BIG Steve-O (10 out of 10 ) "Clerks." is, dare I say, THE best movie ever. Pick up the Clerks X 10th Anniversary DVD set if you haven't already. I know it's been said many times before, but Kevin Smith is a genius.
Arthur Phillips (3 out of 10 ) Smith better than Mamet ?
Wow that wins as the stupidest thing I've heard today.
tony (10 out of 10 ) I don't understand how the budget for this movie could be 60,000, it's just a bunch of Kevin's friends standing around arguing about pop culture. Could someone please explain that to me? Nevertheless, a great film, one of my all-time favorites.
Matthew (10 out of 10 ) Clerks is the best movie. Kevin Smith is a bad ass!
shelby (10 out of 10 ) The budget was only 27,000 most of which was on maxed out credit cards.
silent rob (10 out of 10 ) Genius movie, probably be the greatest and most original indie movie if it wasn't for the blair witch project.
James (9 out of 10 ) Tony, if you own the Clerks X DVD, which you should if you consider yourself a fan at all, it contains a photocopy of Kevin's financials for the film, and it tells you exactly where the money went.
tony (10 out of 10 ) Yeah I've been searching high and low for that clerk X dvd. I think i'll just wait until 2014 for the Clerks XX DVD. But yeah I still consider myself a huge fan seeing as I own all the clerks, and jay and silent bob, comicbooks and I have the entire Clerks animated series on dvd, all 6 episodes. Wonderful movie, kevin smith is a genius.
Michael Martin (10 out of 10 ) Its one of my favorite movies because it wasn't all action or dramatic. It was an everyman movie for teenagers who did just stand around or hanged out and talked about the pop culture they viewed and listened to.
Grimlexx (10 out of 10 ) Clerks is a great movie, this script is the first draft, the one where Dante dies at the end, we all know he doesn't in the movie, although the deleted scene is there.
Coma Ålpha White Omėga (10 out of 10 ) I have not seen a movie that is more overlooked by your everyday movie fan. The witty one liners strategically placed to drill into your memory glands are brilliantly funny and wonderfully well written. And I believe that no one would be able to pull off the less than cocky Dante Hicks better than Brian O'Halloran. And another great casting choice was Jeff Anderson as the smarter than himself wise ass, Randall Graves. This movie ranks up there with The Big Lebowski and Fight Club as being one of the most quotable movies ever.
Daniel (7 out of 10 ) In response to Tony's budget question: The original budget was 30-36k that Smith cobbled together from selling his belongings and maxing out a dozen credit cards- a gambit which, had Clerks failed, would've left him in a hole for the rest of his life. The additional 30k came from Miramax or Sony- a studio basically- after it was picked up, to sort out a digital sound remastering and fix basic things that a studio wouldn't let slide. If you're wondering why it cost Kevin 30k to make the original, making movies isn't free. Every piece of equipment had to be rented. As for the rating, I can't give it a ten despite being an all-too-devout fan. It's an excellent movie and there's no denying that without this there would be no Askewniverse, but this is a film made by someone who knows very little about the technical, skill-oriented aspect of filmmaking. And compared to his later works like Clerks 2, Strike Back, and even Red State, that inexperience is glaringly obvious.
Ryan (10 out of 10 ) Being inexperienced doesn't make you a bad filmmaker, in my opinion Clerks is better than Red State. Many will agree. Film is a mode of communication. Does Clerks communicate what it intends to? Yeah, 100%. Just because it isn't polished or it isn't what you would expect from a Hollywood production, or any experienced filmmaker, does not deserve it to be devalued as a piece of filmmaking. You can argue the acting is amateurish or not, or the editing isn't up to scratch. But if it had the "quality" associated with films that are given an Oscar for cinematography and editing and acting, it wouldn't be the film we all love. Its a filmmaker making a film about what he knows. What's wrong with that?
(9.46 out of 10)
(10 out of 10 )
(3 out of 10 )
(7 out of 10 )