Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson and Rosario Dawson in the Kevin Smith movie ‘Clerks II’

The sequel to the Kevin Smith movie Clerks (1994) began on cinematic fire. A dozen years later, Clerks II (2006) brings back Brian O’Halloran as Dante Hicks, whose world makes a move to Mooby’s fast food after Randal Graves, as portrayed by Jeff Anderson, sends their collective slacker dreams up in smoke with a pot of coffee left on overnight.

(From left, Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves and Brian O’Halloran as Dante Hicks in the Kevin Smith movie Clerks II).

The move to Mooby’s, which takes place at what clearly is a former Burger King restaurant, comes moments after Dante discovers that the Quick Stop with adjacent RST Video of the original Clerks movie had burned Randal had caused a fire the night before. The discovery comes upon opening the notorious anti-theft doors of that original movie. The discovery is presented to Dante’s comic disbelief, followed by efforts to extinguish the total loss of a fire that introduces the search for what becomes the location for a movie set ten years after the original film.

(Rosario Dawson as Becky Scott in the Kevin Smith movie Clerks II).

A decent amount of time passes between that devastation and our seeing Randal working with Dante in fast food. We are quickly introduced to the pair’s new manager, Becky Scott as portrayed by Rosario Dawson. Dante continues with his plan to move on from his minimum wage lifestyle, still, with his overbearing fiancée Emma Bunting presented as a tonic to this ailment. Bunting, as portrayed by Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, brings with her a move to Florida plus a home and the operation of a carwash as furnished by her wealthy parents as a means for setting the couple up after marriage.

(From left, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith as Emma Bunting, Zak Knutson as Sexy Stud and Kevin Weisman as Lord of the Rings geek in the Kevin Smith movie Clerks II).

The tension for Randal that the pending move brings outweighs the better nature of his wishes for Dante’s longer term happiness. Randal does go about planning a proper sendoff for Dante, while an elaborate day in the life story at Mooby’s introduces the writing humor of screenplay writer Kevin Smith that we met with the original Clerks. Beyond the clear feelings that Dante has developed for his boss at the restaurant, Becky, we take notice of the lackadaisical approach Randal takes to his work. Not only is he leaving much of the work to devout Christian teenager Elias Grove, as portrayed by Trevor Fehrman, we see Randal planning a bachelor party for Dante that evening at Mooby’s that brings in Sexy Stud as portrayed by Zak Knutson.

(Trevor Fehrman as Elias Grover in the Kevin Smith movie Clerks II).

A string of cameos filled by customers fills out the restaurant operation as the core tension of the movie takes place. We are reacquanted with Jay and Silent Bob, as portrayed by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith respectively, along with fleeting roles by Kevin Weisman in the role of Lord of the Rings geek. Jason Lee, Wanda Sykes, Earthquake (aka Nathaniel Martin Stroman), Ethan Suplee, Ben Affleck, Scott Mosier and Walter Flanagan. The delivery of Jay and Silent Bob to what presents itself later in the film, after the tension reaches its highest pressure point, lends itself to a second sequel that we know appeared in 2022.

(From left, Jason Mewes as Jay and director Kevin Smith as Silent Bob in the Kevin Smith movie Clerks II).

I largely found the second installment of Clerks offered the sensibility of the original while getting into the graphic style of humor that made the film a cult classic. The humor landed a bit more strongly than did the peace of mind in life that endeared many to the writing of Kevin Smith in the first place. I give Clerks II as written and directed by Kevin Smith 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams and Jason Lee in the Kevin Smith movie ‘Chasing Amy’

It is a small world that blog friend Cobra brought my attention to the Kevin Smith movie Chasing Amy (1997). Matt Lynn Digital reviews Chasing Amy on the heels of Clerks (1994) , which we reviewed earlier this week. Please join me in this this look into dramatic, romantic comedy that offers perspective on love, friendship, and interpersonal growth in matters of the heart in full, sometimes uncomfortable yet well-intentioned color.

(From left, Ben Affleck as Holden McNeil, Joey Lauren Adams as Alyssa Jones and Jason Lee as Banky Edwards in the Kevin Smith movie Chasing Amy).

The movie Chasing Amy tells the overarching story of friendship between Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards, the artists for a modestly successful comic book aside a separate comic book artist, Alyssa Jones. Jones becomes the love interest between McNeil and Edwards, though the friendship story takes a lesser role to the centerpiece story of the budding love interest of McNeil and Jones. McNeil, Edwards and Jones are portrayed by Ben Affleck, Jason Lee and Joey Lauren Adams, respectively.

(From left, Carmen Llywelyn as Kim and Joey Lauren Adams as Alyssa Jones in the Kevin Smith movie Chasing Amy).

The drama of Chasing Amy rests largely in the interpersonal relationships, and the differing levels of experience among the characters. The strength of the Kevin Smith writing and directing is in the exploration of feelings for the films characters. There is depth, growth and change, starting from the revelation that Holden McNeil feels affection for Alyssa Jones, who opens the film pursuing sexual relations with Kim, as portrayed by Carmen Llywelyn.

(From left, Joey Lauren Adams as Alyssa Jones and Dwight Ewell as Hooper in the Kevin Smith movie Chasing Amy).

Dwight Ewell portrayed Hooper, a gay comic and friend to characters and the story told in Chasing Amy. In assisting the changing, and at times cruelly conflicting feelings of McNeil, Edwards and Jones, Ewell offered mature and aware relationship guidance as Alyssa Jones moved from a place of pursuing physical love without attachment to a place of emotional love with Holden McNeil that, if approached between people in a responsible fashion could become something romantic and meaningful from an emotional and sensual perspective.

(From left, Jason Mewes as Jay and Kevin Smith as Silent Bob in the Kevin Smith movie Chasing Amy).

In offering a changing dynamic, there was uncomfortable language and character growth regarding the physical attraction characters had for themselves and others. Sometimes crude attitudes were expressed with a degree of candor, even bawdiness, that can be instructive in becoming mature for viewers that have not yet confronted their own feelings as well as that of others. It is when Jay and Silent Bob, as portrayed by Jason Mewes and movie writer and director Kevin Smith, spoke with Holden McNeil that a path to where the movie’s resolution captures meaning.

(From left, Ethan Suplee as Fan and Casey Affleck as Little Kid were comic book fans in the Kevin Smith movie Chasing Amy).

Where Chasing Amy finds resolution shows something that the self-reflective and careful viewer can and should appreciate. In offering candid confirmation in a candid and forthright way offers questions that people can use to grow themselves, especially for the emotional outcomes offered in what was an emotional daring journey. That this subject matter is offered as independent from the typical movie development system, from the perspective explored, reflects large parts of where American culture remains today. Our take is that Chasing Amy has earned 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, June 12, 2021

Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe and the film ‘Motherless Brooklyn’

The film Motherless Brooklyn (2019) sets itself against the backdrop of 1950s New York City with a puzzle for lead character and private detective Lionel Essrog, as played by film director Edward Norton, in the starring role. Essrog battles Tourette’s Syndrome, and as a result is taken under the wing of Frank Minna, as played by Bruce Willis, from childhood.

(Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Laura Rose, left, and Edward Norton as Lionel Essrog in the film Motherless Brooklyn).

Frank Minna sets the story in motion with a shady proposition to extort more payment for his business from businessmen whose background Minna keeps deliberately vague. Using the photographic memory of Essrog to plant puzzles for a crime solving plan for the private detective, things turning sideways for that deal reveals a story that offers a degree of potential character depth that isn’t present in many contemporary movies.

(Bruce Willis as Frank Minna, left, Willem Dafoe as Paul, center, and Alec Baldwin as Moses Randolph in the film Motherless Brooklyn).

The pieces suggest involvement by characters Paul, as played by Willem Dafoe, Laura Rose as played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Moses Randolph as played by Alec Baldwin. Randolph, a character written into the book Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem, resembles power broker Robert Moses as described in the book The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro. The intrigue within the movie, a project brought to the movies due to Norton, includes intrigue that in part includes character Tony Vermonte as played by Bobby Cannavale.

(Bobby Cannavale as Tony Vermonte in the film Motherless Brooklyn).

The Rotten Tomatoes listing for the film Motherless Brooklyn rightly mentions the film takes the story from the “gin-soaked jazz clubs in Harlem to the hard-edged slums of Brooklyn”. The film aims for setting a mood, a place, and a feeling of corruption fighting that works if understood through the lens of those constructs, some of which Norton seems to have added into the film’s screenplay. The film largely worked for me due to this, which leads me to my rating of 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Mark Wahlberg and the movie ‘Deepwater Horizon’

On April 20th of 2010, an explosion on the oil rig Deepwater Horizon approximately 41 miles (66 kilometers) off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico became the largest marine oil spill in history. The rig would sink two days later. Eleven workers would die with another 17 injured. The movie Deepwater Horizon (2016) was released in the fall of 2016.

(Mark Wahlberg as Mike Williams)

Mark Wahlberg stars as Chief Electronics Technician Mike Williams in the movie. His character is among the first introduced in the movie. As he is flown onto the oil rig Deepwater Horizon, he is shown questioning the installation of the concrete and nitrogen fortification that is meant to make the extraction of the deposit below the sea floor.

(Kurt Russell as Jimmy Harrell)

Kurt Russell as Offshore Information Manager Jimmy Harrell shared similar concerns over the stability of the extraction system. Harrell was chiefly pitted against British Petroleum Supervisor Donald J. Vidrine, as portrayed by John Malkovich, in pushing the safety or profitability angle within the movie.

(John Malkovich as Donald J. Vidrine)

In my humble opinion, the movie aimed to be fair in depicting some of the competing motivations within this debate for whether extracting oil/natural gas was legitimate in the situation aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig. Criticism that the movie does not cover the full complexity of the situation is raised by University of Texas at Austin Professor of Petroleum Engineering Eric van Oort here.

The oil rig Deepwater Horizon was a marine vessel in the sea. As such, the vessel is piloted by Dynamic Positioning Operator Andrea Fleytas, a role portrayed by Gina Rodriguez in the movie.

(Gina Rodriguez as Andrea Fleytas)

The overall story felt even-handed in addressing the larger facts of the fact that the drilling in this case was questionable. It felt that the underlying facts were addressed in such a fashion as not to blame as much as to demonstrate the underlying realities at a level understandable to the film viewing public.

(The Deepwater Horizon memorial Eleven in New Orleans, Louisiana)

The movie has some depth to it, and explicates the story of the explosion. The loss of life as well as the oil spill was a tragedy. That this was reportedly at least the second such well explosion of this nature is definitely a shame. That I came away with a desire to understand this event better after watching the movie Deepwater Horizon speaks to my ability to recommend this movie.

Matt – Saturday, September 8, 2018