 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Clerks
- Review Date: July 31, 2005
- R
- Genre: Comedy
- 1994
Common Sense Media says
Low language, high philosophy, and low budget.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that there is more swearing in this film than at a convention of longshoremen. It's presented in the form of natural conversational rhythm, rather than as epithets. There are no depictions of sex, but it's discussed explicitly. Events and topics of note such as oral sex, masturbation, pornography, a death off screen, hermaphrodism, drinking, drugs, a child purchasing cigarettes, and an inadvertent case of necrophilia, make this film exceedingly inappropriate for kids under 17.
What's the story?
CLERKS takes place over a day in the life of two characters. Dante (Brian O'Halloran) is a convenience store clerk and Randall (Jeff Anderson) is a video store employee. Randall is a potty-mouthed, porn-obsessed, poet/philosopher who constantly visits Randall at work. Dante and Randall spend most of their time ditching work to attend to more important endeavors like playing street hockey on the store's roof. The two main female characters, Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti) and Caitlin (Lisa Spoonhauer), are both independent, no-nonsense, and seek to better their lives through education. People talk (mostly about sex). Relationships surge and falter. Much like real life, there is palpable boredom.
Is it any good?
Clerks is structured episodically, driven more by dialogue than plot. The acting is a bit amateurish at times, but when dialogue like Randall's monologues -- piercing and brutally fresh –- are presented to the audience, all is forgiven. In addition to the Filmmaker's Trophy at Sundance, Clerks also won the Prix de la Jeunesse at Cannes. Not bad for a low-budget ($27,000) independent feature by a writer/director/editor/producer/actor from Jersey.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about Dante and Randal's work ethic and their relationships with women. Which characters represent a positive life direction and which ones appear to be going nowhere? Parents and kids might find the production of the film interesting due to its large success and low budget. They might compare the director's passion and tenacity with the attitudes of Dante and Randal.
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AGE
Domination!
This movie is by far better than the second. Jay and Silent Bob make the movie but Randall and Dante are super funny as well... This movie gets boring every now and then but overall is a must see...
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AGE
BEST MOVIE EVER
This movie is a must see for everyone 13 & up
Non-stop humor.
does have language though but thats it
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AGE
its funny but a lot of graphic crude diolauge and strong language and not a family movie but is hilarious.
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AGE
Funny Movie
if you like slapstick, don't see this. What makes this movie funny is its dialogue. Yes there is a ton of swearing, mainly the fword. There is tons of sex talk, but none onscreen (except for the bathroom seen, but still nothing is shown). But besides that there is nothing else notable
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AGE
Kevin Smith at his best
This movie is hilarious and my favorite KS movie but there are some problems though. There is some graphic sexual dialoge (what a snowball is, how hard it is to get a woman to have an orgasm) but they are all very brief. The biggest scene is when a woman has sex with a dead guy, but as I said earlier it's all very brief. Drug dealers Jay and Silent Bob are seen throughout dealing (not shown) and smoking ciggarettes. This movie would be fine for a sophisticated 11 year-old and up.
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AGE
Great
This funny film is awesome in its simplicity chronicling the tales of two convenience store clerks. Kids under 12 will be bored by the whole movie with humour that will go over their head.
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AGE
No onscreen sex or nudity, just tons of profanity and sex talk. It's not that bad but definitely not for anyone under 14, even then it may be innapropriate.
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AGE
An amazing indie gem.
Clerks is our first introduction to writer/director/actor Kevin Smith's "View Askewniverse". It's also the greatest film in that series. The characters of Dante and Randall engage in interesting, intelligent, and hilarious dialog while dealing with the boredom, hypocrisy and occasional weirdness of everyday life in a convenience store.
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| Studio: | Miramax |
| Director: | Kevin Smith |
| Cast: | Brian O'Halloran, Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Run time: | 92 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | October 19, 1994 |
| DVD release date: | June 29, 1999 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | appeal for extensive use of extremely explicit sex-related dialogue |
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