Clerks III

Clerks III

After narrowly surviving a massive heart attack, Randal enlists his old friend Dante to help him make a movie immortalizing their youthful days at the little convenience store that started it all.

  • Released:
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Stars: Jeff Anderson, Brian O'Halloran, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Rosario Dawson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Trevor Fehrman, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, Austin Zajur, Scott Schiaffo, Justin Long, Fred Armisen, Ben Affleck, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Harley Quinn Smith, Ming Chen, Walt Flanagan, Bryan Johnson, Mike Zapcic, Jason szalma, Lisa hampton, AJ Wilkerson, Bob Leszczak, Robert Hawk, Ernest O'Donnell, Dave Ferrier, Brian Quinn, Ralph Garman, Melissa Benoist, Danny Trejo, Joe Gatto, James Murray, Bobby Moynihan, Grace Smith, Sal Vulcano, Ethan Suplee, Donnell Rawlings, Kate Micucci, Marc Bernardin, Freddie Prinze Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, Amy Sedaris, Chris Wood, Scott Mosier, Jake Richardson, Michelle Buteau, Marc Bernardin, AnnaMarie Brown, Yassir Lester
  • Director: Kevin Smith
 Comments
  • refinedsugar - 8 March 2024
    Sad State of Affairs
    The original 'Clerks' was a fine film that perfectly blended characters, humor with a down to earth story and well placed licensed music. It did little wrong in my eyes and launched Kevin Smith as a filmmaker. I wasn't a big fan of the move to a fast food restaurant in Technicolor with tired life beats ten years later in the first sequel '2', but even it delivered some funny moments. What the heck is going on here with '3'!?

    Randall (Jeff Anderson) suffers and lives thru a major heart attack and takes this as a sign to live life to the fullest. So he decides to make a movie with the help of Dante (Brian O'Halloran), Jay (Jason Mewes) & Silent Bob (Smith) and fellow ex-Moobys coworker Elias Grover (Trevor Fehrman) about all the characters, stories they've experienced over the years at the Quick Stop convenience store.

    Let's talk about the tale here ... and ... if you know about any of Kevin's publicised personal life you'll quickly identify your watching a homage to events that happened to him. This feeling quickly engulfs the movie. You're supposed to be sufficiently entertained by basking in fan service old glory, knee deep life sentiment ... but where is the comedy? The laughs? Killer dialog and wacky down to earth scenarios?

    I resisted seeing 'Clerks 3' for the longest time and perhaps I should have waited even longer. Smith has been running on fumes for a long time and this sequel sums it up. This film is in direct conflict to what made the original so brilliant. It's dark when it didn't need to be, not very funny and borderline boring. Cameos both big & small can't save it either.
  • lynxenn - 20 September 2023
    It's okay, but not a great movie
    Like I said, it's not a great movie, not a bad movie, just an okay one.

    Didn't care for the some of the credits (personally) considering the subject matter. I do recommend at least listening to the credits all the way through though, it has a nice little story included. Overall, a decent conclusion to the Clerks' trilogy and a sweet story but nothing groundbreaking.

    Worth a watching if available for free on a streaming service you have, but not sure I would recommend paying for it unless you are really a die-hard fan of Clerks and Kevin Smith. A lot of really nice cameos included as usual. Even included some faces I haven't seen in a long time, which was a nice touch.

    Sold 5/10 rating for Clerks III.
  • paudieconnolly - 12 January 2023
    Quick stop closes early.
    To begin with I thought Kevin Smith had captured some of the magic from the original clerks, there was always going to be a touch of nostalgia fans would expect no less. Unfortunately after half an hour with a storyline it's given up on , Then that's pretty much all there is a nostalgic look back while trying to pull on the heart strings of the diehard fans. Great cameos by the actor's you would hope to see. On the main wasted talent that could have been used in a so much more entertaining way. Just getting them to repeat lines from the original movie was a wasted chance to do something new. I'm a big fan of the first clerks movie watched it many times and felt clerks two was worth making an enjoyable sequel (Despite how many feel about it) This was not worthy of taking a place in a trilogy still 2 clerks for me back to the drawing board Mr Smith.
  • NightlySun - 25 December 2022
    Hollow, meandering, too many recycled jokes and ultimately too depressing for a proper conclusion to the View Askewniverse.
    Drama is not new to Kevin Smith. His previous movies tackled some truly serious matters that he didn't play for laughs. And you know what? It worked, because those movies had balance. Originality. Which is something that Clerks III lacks. Chasing Amy could be gut-bustingly funny, only to veer and take a sharp turn and hit you hard when you least expect it.

    A majority of the humor in Clerks III, however, consists of jokes recycled from previous entries in the View Askewniverse - primarily the first Clerks - while the few original jokes aren't funny because they're usually riffing on the same pop culture-bashing humor of the first two Clerks movie, only it feels much more dry at worst and flat out embarrassing and cringeworthy at best. The lack of actual humor leads to the movie just feeling that much more bleak and empty.

    I wouldn't have minded Dante dying at the end quite as much if Smith didn't INSIST on making his already miserable life that much worse by inserting a needless and horribly depressing plot point where Becky and her unborn child died in between movies. Look, I love dark stuff, but I recognize the difference between well-written dark stories versus shoehorning in extra angst for the sake of angst. Alien 3 was a letdown for precisely that reason, and Smith seems to have taken notes from it. In retrospect, Elias becoming a Satanist (in an exceedingly unfunny and painful to watch scene, I might add) and adopting a goth/metalhead appearance for the rest of the movie might have been Smith trying to say he's aware of the excessive angst. Granted, I was already in a bad mood when I saw it, and that probably made it worse.

    Randal's heart attack is another largely useless plot point. All it really does is give him the idea to shoot a movie about his life. The same life that he said he saw flashing before his eyes and hated it. And to make him act like a bigger jackass than usual. I know he's always been an unpleasant person, but the thing of it is, usually there's a method to his madness and he can raise some genuinely valid points about Dante and his whininess. Here, he just gets increasingly insufferable and ridiculously self-absorbed until it's too late.

    There is something redeeming here. I know I've been quite scathing of Clerks III, but its premise is commendable. The whole theme of coming face-to-face with your own mortality is unique for Smith. As I said before, yes, he's made plenty of movies with serious themes. Even the maligned Jay and Silent Bob Reboot had a few effectively emotional scenes. Sadly, it felt like it overshadowed everything else. One other good thing is that the scene where Dante is in the theater watching Randal's movie is beautifully shot and genuinely moving.

    I don't know if I would recommend this, let alone ever watch it again. If you're a completionist, then by all means. But don't go in expecting to be screaming with laughter. Certainly don't go watching it as a mood booster.
  • ges-65641 - 13 December 2022
    Dramatic with funny moments
    Clerks III is a continuation of the Clerks and New Jersey Series launched back in 1994. The series as a whole has had some drama with a lot of light hearted moments Clerks and Clerks II especially. There've been a few in the Jersey series that have had more serious endings like Chasing Amy however I, like many other fans, expected a Clerks movie to start finish and end on a lighter note.

    I've seen other folks complain about Clerks III being a semi-autobiographical narrative about Kevin Smith. It wasn't exactly a secret this would be the case especially since the original Clerks was the same. That is part of why Clerks was so awesome. The fact that Clerks ended on a positive yet somber note added a great end while leaving the door open for Clerks II even if Kevin wasn't quite sure he was going to do so at the time. The ending that was kept was better than the dsicared original ending pointed out in Clerks III where Dante was shot dead.

    Clerks II was much lighter and had a great ending that was very positive and gave the viewers something along the lines of warm fuzzies. Some of us were a bit surprised Veronica wasn't brought back but it seemed great seeing Dante and Becky with what seemed to be a hapily ever after.

    My wife and I were both shocked by the sign about Becky at the register at the start of III. We withheld judgement however wanting to give the movie a chance. There were high and low points throughout the movie as we expect with many View Askew movies.

    We both found the end to be unnecessarily and excessivly depressing however. The end could've had Dante and Veronica having a happily ever after with his and Randal's relationship patched and they could've just had the three of them riding off into the sunset rather than just Randal allowing Kevin to bookend the trilogy.

    The exceedingly depressing end really rather killed it for me. Considering how Star Wars was a regular conversation through out all three Clerks movies it seemed to be a polar opposite to them with the middle movie having the happiest end. The way the movie and series ended is why I cannot do more than offer it a better rating despite loving the Jersey series overall.
  • rmmil - 26 November 2022
    Lazy troupe
    If there's one thing I hate in films, it's troupes, and the "disposable woman" troupe is among the worst.

    It's where a protagonist has a love interest drop dead in a sudden, usually violent way, to give the protagonist's struggle more gravitas or to push the plot along. See Deadpool 2 as an example.

    Clerks II made the Becky character semi-fleshed out, to serve as a romantic plot line for the protagonist, but in Clerks III she has been relegated to the role of "dead girlfriend". This was such a waste for the character, and makes less and less sense as the movie plays out.

    I ask the question, what was the point in the ghost Becky telling. Dante to move on with his life when his life was literally ending? Great timing. Maybe she should've shown up 10 years earlier with that message so the guy wouldn't have dropped dead before 50?

    Also, huge huge missed opportunity to not include Dogma cameos considering the afterlife theme. Oh well. Kevin Smith was right to end this franchise, as his writing has obviously run out of steam for it.
  • the-real-lichmeister - 13 November 2022
    Painful on so many levels...
    I was extremely nervous about watching this. When the first Clerks was released, i was living like the protagonists. My days were spent hanging out at the video store where my best friend worked, mocking customers, smoking weed and watching movies. It was such a mind-bending and funny story that it immediately became the litmus test of almost every movie i watched since.

    It took me 3 attempts to get through Clerks 3 because it started out so damned cheesy i just couldnt stand it.

    Tonight i managed to finish and I am grateful i gave it another try. I paused so many times while i pulled out my copy of the 25th Anniversary Edition and skipped through it, marvelling at just how many original cast members returned! The egg guy, chewlies gum rep, Veronica... jesus h christ! I swear if they still had a pulse, they were back!

    Then the audition scene: omfg I was laughing so damned hard I thought I was going to rupture something. There must have been a dozen or two fantastic cameos crammed into a few quick minutes!

    At that point I was hooked. It has been a long time since I have just watched a movie. I usually put them on these days and half watch/half listen while I attempt to get some crap done. I put everything down and just sat and watched the rest of the film. I am so glad I did!

    As they began shooting their film, I felt like I was lucky enough to be a fly on the wall at the original shoot. Silent bob snapping about shooting in black and white was priceless. The litterbox recreation! Harley looking through all the milk! The argument about the omission of the word 'and' while Kevin gives quiet but firm approval in the background! So much complete silliness until that last scene (with Salsa Shark) and it got real. By the time I got to the funeral scene, I was openly weeping and had soaked half a damned box of tissues.

    TYTYTY Kevin Smith and the Entire effing Crew for making a spectacular film that was posing as a light-hearted nostalgia-festival! I mean, it was that as well, but when Randall said "You're not even supposed to be here today." I completely lost my composure.... Now I have to go back and censor this whole damned thing because apparently IMDB doesn't like my colourful language describing this film and I loved it so much I am willing to self-censor myself (something i don't think i have ever done before) just to leave a frikking review (can I say frikking?.. I guess I'll find out!).
  • MrDHWong - 3 November 2022
    Does a solid job of continuing the saga of the two relatable convenience store workers who still aren't even supposed to be there today
    "Clerks III" is the third and final(?) film in the "Clerks" series and the ninth film set in the "View Askewniverse". Written and directed by Kevin Smith ("Mallrats", "Chasing Amy", "Dogma"), it does a solid job of continuing the saga of the two relatable convenience store workers who still aren't even supposed to be there today.

    Fifteen years after the events of "Clerks II", the middle-aged Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) are still the sole proprietors of the Quick Stop convenience store in New Jersey. One day, Randal starts to feel shortness of breath and suffers a severe heart attack in the store, requiring immediate hospital care. After surviving the following surgical procedure, Randal comes to the conclusion that he has wasted his life and becomes determined to figure out what his true purpose is. Soon realising what he needs to do, Randal decides to make his own movie based around his and Dante's experiences working at the Quick Stop for so long. Following a lengthy period of pre-production, Randal starts to learn that shooting a movie is a lot harder than he had envisioned but insists on completing it no matter what may happen.

    In addition to being a hilarious movie in its own right, I've always admired how Kevin Smith was able to make his 1994 debut film "Clerks". Allegedly, Smith funded it by selling his comic book collection, maxing out several credit cards, and cashing in insurance money from a car he had lost in a flood. All up, the film cost him about $27,575 but ended up grossing over $4 million at the box office. It taught me that all you need is a great script and the bare minimum of resources to make a movie, with good word-of-mouth determining its overall financial success. Twelve years later, the film was followed by the equally entertaining 2006 sequel "Clerks II", which continued the story in a different location, only to end up with everything back to where it all began. I never really imagined we would ever get a third movie but now sixteen years later we have "Clerks III", which I would go so far as to say is the most emotionally satisfying film of Kevin Smith's career.

    Speaking as a long-time fan of Smith's work, it feels bittersweet to return to the "View Askewniverse" considering how long it has been around. Although we previously saw how things were going in 2019's "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot", in hindsight that film felt more like it was trying to appeal to the younger Gen Z crowd with most of the comedy focusing on modern day technology like phone apps and rideshare. In this film, all the humour seems more tailored to the older fans of Smith, complete with inside references to memorable lines quoted in his previous movies and even the odd use of self-deprecation that could almost pass as a fourth wall break. It is obvious that Kevin Smith has set this film up as a semi-biographical parody of how he made the original "Clerks", offering his own personal commentary on the difficult process of filmmaking with a limited budget. Because of that, this film feels more accommodating to anyone who has been loyally watching Smith's work since the 90s, or at the very least those who liked his first film.

    What I think also helped the film in the long run was how Smith was able to balance his signature humour with some well-earned emotional moments. Sure, there are the usual low-brow, profanity-laden quips uttered by characters we know and love, but at the same time we also get an insight into why they act the way they do in the first place. We gain a better understanding as to how someone like Randal, who after a life-threatening heart attack, is coming to terms with his own mortality and why he now wants to leave a legacy that he can be proud of. Beneath his cocky exterior is an insecure man who has been working a retail job for almost 30 years, only just realising that he has next to nothing to show for it. This provides a more than believable driving force for the film's plot, which is full of all the inside jokes, humorous lines, and amusing situations that fans of Kevin Smith should expect by now. At the same time too, those fans can feel sympathy for Randal, especially anybody who is closer in age and are on the verge of going through their own mid-life crisis. However, the best thing about all of this is that it never feels like we should be laughing at Randal's expense, because he is treated like a real vulnerable human being and not simply a crude joke machine for the audience's amusement.

    Returning to the role after sixteen years (he was notably absent in "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot"), it is nice to see Jeff Anderson once again play the character that made him a popular figure among fans of the "View Askewniverse". Even well into his fifties, Anderson's comic timing never misses a beat, as he is still able to belt out the usual string of foul language and pop culture references that have made the character so endearing after all these years. Of course, whenever he needs to, Anderson manages to handle the dramatic scenes in a convincing manner. Though we have seen glimpses of Randal's vulnerability in the previous two movies, this time it has become the main focus since he has now come face-to-face with a life-or-death health issue. You can't help but want Randal to succeed in making his movie, even if comes at the expense of his friends and other acquaintances.

    None of Randal's best moments would have worked at all without Dante as his straight man, and Brian O'Halloran delivers just that on all fronts. Like Randal, Dante is also grappling with his own personal demons, such as his failed romantic relationships and other shattered ambitions. Despite that, Dante tries his best to put it all aside by helping Randal finish his movie. In the past, I think Dante has been unfairly labelled as weak and spineless by fans but I've always admired the way he'd loyally stick by Randal no matter what controversial thing he did. Randal needs Dante as someone he can vent to and likewise Dante needs Randal because he's the only other person who seems to share his cynical view of the world. There's just something wholesome about the way this film continues to explore the co-dependency of these two characters who have been around for almost three decades, because it just goes to show that true friendship stands the test of time.

    Similarly, we also get some humorous scenes with those loveable drug dealers Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith). Although they aren't in the film as often as you may have hoped, they still provide a necessary backbone to the story, pointing out some of the meta jokes and references to the audience. Like Dante and Randal, Jay and Silent Bob have been there since the very beginning so it is just as interesting to see how much older they are but still doing the exact same thing as if nothing has changed. As a result, there's an interesting parallel drawn between the two duos, in that while Dante and Randal are unsatisfied with where they are in life, Jay and Silent Bob are actually content with what they do, despite no longer being the energetic youths they once were. We soon learn that whether Dante and Randal love them or hate them, it seems they owe the drug-dealing duo a great deal for all they have done for them after all these years, both good and bad.

    For long-time fans of Kevin Smith, a film like "Clerks III" feels like an appropriate celebration of everything the filmmaker has accomplished so far. It serves as both a thank you letter to the loyal fans who have stuck by him after all this time and as a funny self-parody of the process of making a movie. If this were the final film set in the "View Askewniverse" I would be satisfied but according to some research, there is a sequel to "Mallrats" currently in development. Regardless of how that one turns out, it seems the "View Askewniverse" will be here for many years to come. Snoochie Boochies!

    I rate it 8/10.