Clerks III (2022) * * *

 

Directed by:  Kevin Smith

Starring:  Jeff Anderson, Brian O' Halloran, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Rosario Dawson, Trevor Fehrman, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Amy Sedaris, Justin Long

Kevin Smith's Clerks III is clearly influenced by Smith's well-publicized health scares.  Clerks III isn't just a meta sequel with callbacks to past characters and situations, but it has depth and a heart (no pun intended).  There is true emotion as Quick Stop owners Randal (Anderson) and Dante (O'Halloran) ponder their lives after Randal suffers a heart attack.  Dante already struggles with his late wife's (Dawson) passing shortly after they married.  Clerks III benefits from Smith's experience and perspective. 

After Randal recovers from his near-death episode, he decides to make a movie about the happenings at the Quick Stop over the years.  Dante and Randal wind up playing themselves after more famous actors (Ben Affleck, Anthony Michael Hall, etc.) flub their auditions in an amusing sequence.  Smith himself appears as Silent Bob along with his ever-present sidekick Jay (Mewes).  They operate a marijuana dispensary (formerly the video store where Randal worked in the first film) and assist in the production.  There is even an appearance for Mooby's, the fast-food restaurant where Dante and Randal worked in Clerks II, but it triggers an emotional response from Dante.  This is the place where he met his late wife, and moving on has been tough sledding for him.

The dialogue in which Smith makes references to past Clerks movies and the sly and knowing description of Hollywood moviemaking tendencies is hit and miss.  Sometimes it can be too cute.  But Clerks III succeeds in its heartfelt friendship between Dante and Randal, and touching moments you wouldn't expect from a Clerks movie, which made its bones on sharp comic dialogue and realism.