Clerk

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

As a New Jersey native, Kevin Smith was a rite of passage in my teenage years. Starting with the movie Clerks and moving my way up, my formative years were spent learning the many nuances of Jay and Silent Bob, coupled with the accompanying storyline they seemed to be a part of in each movie. Jay (Jason Mewes) was the crass, funny one—but it was Silent Bob’s (Kevin Smith) monologues and occasional one-liners that made Kevin Smith films some of my biggest go-tos. Chasing Amy was enjoyed amongst girlfriends over pizza. Mallrats created inside jokes with friends for decades to come. My brother and I would discuss the merits of ideas versus beliefs after watching Dogma dozens of times. Even the night before moving day of my freshman year of college, I joined my friends in laughing hysterically on opening day of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. And in Clerk, a documentary that exhibits the legacy of Kevin Smith, I got to re-live my childhood all over again—of course, with an older and wiser perspective.

Kevin Smith’s love of films came from his father Donald, who would take him to the movies after the dentist. In fact, his love of stories was apparent from an early age and Smith immersed himself in watching lots of movies and reading lots of comic books. During his time going to the Highlands Rec Center, Smith met Walter Flanagan, Bryan Johnson and Jason Mewes. These friendships went on to define Smith’s life and for Mewes create a character that you can’t help but love and then laugh your a** off when he speaks.

Fast forward to one night in New York City with Quick Stop co-worker Vincent Pereira (Director – A Better Place), Smith sees the movie Slacker by Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused) and realizes that filmmaking would allow him an outlet for his writing. Deciding that film school was the answer, Kevin Smith attends Vancouver Film School….and drops out. During his time there he meets Scott Mosier and nothing is ever the same.

Through Smith and Mosier’s working relationship Clerks is made and gains critical acclaim. The movie even brings them to the Sundance Festival. Riding off that high into the next film, Mallrats was made and considered a flop. Deciding to take a more serious route, Mallrats was followed by Chasing Amy and Dogma, movies that were more based in Smith’s life experiences. Smith also started to work on other projects other than his own, lending a hand as Executive Producer on the hit movie Good Will Hunting.

In order to make a movie to make himself laugh, Smith then decided to make Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. From there, Kevin Smith becomes a mainstream icon and propels his career forward with a film festival in Red Bank called Vulgarthon, opening the Secret Stash store and diversifying his work into comic books, Q&As, live shows and podcasting. Meanwhile, of course, still making more movies from Jersey Girl, to Cop Out to Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. And continuing be Kevin Smith no matter what.

Director Malcolm Ingram has one of the greatest perspectives when he got the chance to work on Clerk—he has known Kevin Smith since the beginning of his career! And to know someone for that long, you need to know how to do the story justice. Ingram gives us the facts of Smith’s life, but it is the various interviews interspersed through that factual evidence that makes the film. Through interviews of some of Smith’s nearest and dearest, the love and camaraderie shines the brightest. Smith has led a life to admire and maybe even envy yet has made it his life goal to keep living life as much as possible.

The authenticity that Kevin shows in Clerk paints a portrait of a man who knows where he came from and is not afraid to show it. In the documentary Smith himself takes us through the streets of Red Bank and iconic places like Quick Stop to give us that glimpse. What I do appreciate is that we not only get the best parts of Kevin Smith’s life and career, we also see the sadder parts. From his father’s death in 2003 to Kevin’s own brush with death after his heart attack in February of 2018, we get a more human glimpse into someone who has spent twenty-five years making us laugh and cry. Yet determined to keep going in the way Kevin Smith only knows how, he recovers and moves forward, working on a healthier lifestyle and continuing to give his fans his best.

At the beginning of the documentary there is a video Kevin Smith records – an open and emotional video for his parents before he heads off to Vancouver Film School in July 1992. By the end of the documentary and after twenty-five years in the business, he is just as open and emotional sharing his favorite line in the song “The Wish” by Bruce Springsteen: “And it’s a funny old world, mama, where a little boy’s wishes come true.” Well, Kevin, you apparently have a few left in your pocket and a special one just for all of us.