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Dante Hicks works as a clerk in a small convenience store and is told to come into work on his day off. He reads in the newspaper that his ex-girlfriend Caitlin is getting married. His present girlfriend reveals to have somewhat more experience with sex that he ever imagined. His buddy Randal Graves works as a clerk in the video store next and he hates his job just about as much as Dante hates his. Clerks is no masterpiece i'm afraid plus the storyline wasn't that good and the whole black and white? Totally threw me off in more ways and i was disappointed. (D+)
romanorum1
This black and white cheapie involves a convenience store clerk and his friend as told through a series of 16 vignettes. Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) is an unhappy clerk at the Quick Stop, a convenience store in Leonardo, NJ. After working late at night, he has had to fill in at 6:00 AM (to 12:00 noon) the following day (Saturday, on his day off) because an employee has called in sick. Also, he wants to play a street hockey game at 2:00, and feels he won't be sharp because of little sleep. Dante's friend Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) nonchalantly runs the next door video store; he is not above offending his customers. Randal even rents his videos from another store! Throughout the film Randal comes over to the Quick Stop to chat with Dante about life, careers, and girlfriends. The men are dissatisfied and bored, and their lives are going nowhere. Besides the bizarre customers, the two main female characters, Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti) and Caitlyn (Lisa Spoonauer), wander into the story. Veronica is Dante's current girlfriend. Caitlyn, Dante's ex-girl, is engaged to be married; Dante still seems to like her. Meanwhile Dante's boss calls to say that he cannot make it in by 12:00 so that Dante has to man the business until closing time. He is reduced to playing hockey on the roof. This flick without a plot, made on a shoestring budget of less than $29,000, won the Filmmaker's Trophy at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival. It eventually grossed over $3 million. Some consider the film to be artistic. For instance, the black-and-white shooting and murky sound apparently represent meaningless lives. Nevertheless, it will not appeal for all tastes. For one thing, the humor is off-color, raw. The cast, unseasoned at the time of filming, uses ribald language. Also, the conversations are rather pointless and usually boring. But whether or not you like the film, you have to agree on one fact: it is certainly authentic.
SimplisticOne
-----SPOILERS AHEAD-----I love this film, some people might hate it, but I think it's the true definition of Black Comedy. I liked this movie better than Clerks II, even though, because I don't really plan reviewing Clerks II, I thought it was a 7/10. But this one is better in any way, shape or form. Dante is a shop clerk who normally gets in trouble thanks to his friend Randal, a troublesome boy who also works in the shop, for example, Randal showed a picture of a gaping vagina to a customer, he often annoys other customers, and gave cigarettes to a 4 year old, which caused Dante to lose 2 of his friends (I believe). Later on in the film, we discover that Dante's girlfriend "Veronica" had sex with a dead body, which became a major impact to me. Dante and Randal are seen wrestling in one scene, seriously injured, but then they make up for all the trouble that happened. There WAS an original ending to the film, which was Dante getting gunned down by a robber, which at first I didn't know it was there, but I was happy that wasn't the original ending, because it didn't have any context to the film, it happened randomly, and it wasn't essential for the film. Overall, this film is definitely a nice example of black comedy, I really liked it.
Claudio Carvalho
On his day off, the clerk of a convenience store Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) is summoned by his boss to be the substitute for his coworker that is ill. He is worried since he has a hockey game. Along the day, his friend Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) that works in a video store on the next door stays most of the time with Dante. He is visited by his girlfriend Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti) that discloses intimacy to him; he learns that his former girlfriend Caitlin Bree (Lisa Spoonauer); he gives a break and plays the hockey game with Randal; he goes with Randal to a wake. Meanwhile the drug dealers Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) sells drugs on the sidewalk.In 1994, the low-budget "Clerks" is a milestone to the career of Kevin Smith. Divided in nineteen chapters in black-and white, using a few locations and with unknown cast, the witty "Clerks" is a very funny comedy even twenty-two years after its release. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "O Balconista" (The Clerk")
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