DVD Review: A Threesome with Kevin Smith

Alliance Films Releases Some Smith Classic Comedies in DVD 3-Pack

Dec 14, 2008

With the recent theatrical release of Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Kevin Smith has repackaged some of his older originals, as a treat for the Holidays.

Simply a new edition of the movie that started it all, Clerks Snowball Edition DVD adds some decent extras to the small budget film that could, about two slacker twentysomethings who spend a Sunday working their respective jobs at a convenience store and video store, while dissecting various aspects of popular culture during slow moments.

From discussing ambiguous Star Wars plotholes to dealing with relationships issues, the story of Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randall Graves (Jeff Anderson) is one filled with countless clever one-liners, and showcased the incredible rapport director Kevin Smith has wit his target audience: the Generation X crowd who relate to these characters, both in pop culture opinions and mindframes over simple to complex social issues.

Without trying too hard, Smith manages to extract a quality product out of a 91-minute film, which he financed himself for the modest cost of 25,000 or-so dollars. Goes to show that success isn't always affiliated with big-budget. Anyone knows this from having seen The Last Action Hero (sorry, Mr. McTiernan, a 125 million dollar film with a meager return, doesn't spell profit in any sense of the word...).

Clerks was the first of a handful of movies set in the Askewniverse (named for the various characters contained within Smith's View Askew Productions' body of work at the time, interconnected within his New Jersey setting), and was to be followed by 5 more films (two more of which are discussed in this review) in the same context.

Clerks: The Snowball Edition includes a decent audio commentary by Smith and his cast and crew, and some alternate and deleted scenes. Stick with the audio commentary, as these folks are fun to listen to, despite going off topic many times.

What many hardcore fans consider to be one of his most mature storylines set within the Askewniverse, Chasing Amy deals mostly with matters of the heart. This being a Kevin Smith film, he takes it one step further: how does a successful male comic-book artist fall in love with a lesbian colleague, and will she love him in return?

This film, the third in Smith's body of work, is in this writer's opinion his finest and most durable work. The film doesn't gratuitously exploit what could be deemed a taboo subject (that of straight vs. gay love) yet provides an honest portrayal of the emotional implications contained therein.

The whole film works well, still retaining some of Smith's love of pop culture minutiae. Starring Ben Affleck (by then in his second project with the director) as Holden McNeil, Jason Lee (by then also in his second outing with Smith) as well as Joey Lauren Adams as comic-book writer Alyssa Jones, Chasing Amy (Criterion Collection Edition) DVD is a fine addition to any film fan's DVD collection, and a must for anyone who enjoys Smith's work.

As with many Criterion Collection titles, this disc is amazingly replete with countless extras, namely an extensive set of commentaries on the film, the usually hilarious bloopers, and a useful feature describing the many characters of the Askewniverse (a handy guide to the previous movie discussed here.)

Many critics at the time of Clerks 2's release had questioned Kevin Smith's decision to return to the well, so to speak, with this, his first sequel. Honestly, this film plays as much as a tribute to the fans who have been loyal to the director's works since 1994, as it does work as a curio item, a sort of "What Ever Happened To..." for fans still loyal the Askewniverse characters.

It's been ten years (story-wise) since the events of the first Clerks movie, with Dante and Randall still manning their dead-end jobs as convenience store and video store clerks. A mishap one fine morning causes their place of work to burn to the ground, forcing these thirty-somethings to seek out new employ, while they continue questioning their life choices, or lack thereof.

The setting moves to a Mooby's restaurant chain (a fictitious fast food chain seen in many of Smith's previous works), where the two title characters continue their tirades over more pop culture minutiae, while facing life changing decisions, namely marriage and future career potential. All covered, of course, using a backdrop of further Star Wars references, and the usual antics of ubiquitous drug dealers Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith), who have appeared in almost all of Smith's films.

A decent bookend to the Askewniverse, Clerks 2 plays in a most familiar way, sort of a ten-year high school reunion, where the audience is pleased to find out what happened to some of their favorite characters.

The 2-disc version of this DVD contains many featurettes, chief among which is a 90-minute docu which explores the long history that director Smith has had (both with studio heads and cast members), in continuing to make films that remained within his scope, his comfort zone, all without giving away what he enjoys most out of his works: creative control.

And so, this Threesome with Kevin Smith DVD set is a great way to add three of Smith's eight films to date to any Smith fans' collection, as the extras alone, will add up to more than one movie's worth of value, an insight into the continuing body of work that promises to offer more entertainment to Generation X-ers as they grow old with the films that are to come.

The copyright of the article DVD Review: A Threesome with Kevin Smith in Comic Films is owned by Dominic Messier. Permission to republish DVD Review: A Threesome with Kevin Smith in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.