Written by John Edward Betancourt Once in a great while you get to sit down in a movie theater and witness history when a film plays out before your eyes and it goes beyond merely entertaining you and it outright manages to touch you on a level you never realized was quite possible. It could reach you emotionally. t could inspire you to do something different with your life, or it could simply wow you with how utterly good the film is. Those kinds of iconic films are rare, and while we often are touched by film in some form or fashion, it's the ones that blow you away and stick with you for days and years once you've seen it that matter, and that you celebrate on a regular basis since they consistently evoke those powerful feelings within you, time and time again. And recently, I took the time to revisit an iconic movie that fits that particular criteria in, Clerks. Dante is in need of direction in his life. He spends his days working down at the Quick Stop convenience store, hanging out with his friend Randal and dealing with one irritating customer after another, and well that’s basically it for him, and he knows that there is little substance to his life and his world, but hasn’t a clue how to break out of the rut he is in. But today is a special day, because Dante isn't supposed to be at work, but he’s behind the counter once again, and the wild things that happen to him today may give Dante exactly what he needs to finally get his life in order. So where do we start when it comes to talking about Clerks? Well we start with the word that describes it best, brilliant. I call it that, and I say it with pride, because of how well this film encapsulates a little slice of life. There is not one character in this film that people cannot relate to. We’ve all known a Randal and for those of us who have worked retail we know the customer base pretty well in this film. Granted there are plenty of movie moments in this flick that would never quite happen in real life, but for every one of those, there are ten moments that could. It's that realism that has allowed Clerks to withstand the test of time. But what truly allows for this film to stand out and stick in our minds and our hearts, is Dante’s journey. Because let’s be honest, we’ve all been Dante at some point or another in our lives. We’ve all felt stuck in our lives and our future has seemed uncertain and we’ve also looked to yesterday to understand how to handle today and tomorrow and well, this really is some brilliant writing when all is said and done. For it is difficult to properly encapsulate this particular struggle in any medium in realistic fashion but Kevin Smith pulls that off with minimal effort here and I love the many layers that go into the ending of the film since it in essence reminds us to cherish what we have in our lives currently and plug ahead when the going gets tough because sometimes, that’s the best way to get through a rough patch. As an added bonus, this movie is also one incredible comedy, and the quirky situations that Dante and Randal get into leave you in stitches, or tears since you’re laughing hard throughout the entire time and when all is said and done, it really is best to refer to this film as a outright masterpiece, Because Kevin Smith managed to pull off what so many filmmakers set out to do in that, he was able to flawlessly drop you into a character’s world and let you enjoy a slice of their everyday life, and providing the audience with that kind of unique experience is truly the mark of a great motion picture.
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