Clerks II is a 2006 American
comedy filmComedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
written and directed by
Kevin SmithKevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
,
sequelA sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to his 1994 film
ClerksClerks is a 1994 independent comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also appears in the film as Silent Bob. Starring Brian O'Halloran as Dante Hicks and Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves, it presents a day in the lives of two store clerks and their acquaintances...
, and his sixth and latest feature film to be set in the
View AskewniverseThe View Askewniverse is a fictional universe created by writer/director Kevin Smith, featured in several films, comics and a television series; it is named for Smith's production company, View Askew Productions. The characters Jay and Silent Bob appear in almost all the View Askewniverse media,...
. The film stars
Brian O'HalloranBrian Christopher O'Halloran is an American actor best known for his roles in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse films, notably as Dante Hicks in Smith's debut film Clerks and its 2006 sequel, Clerks II...
,
Jeff AndersonJeffrey Allan "Jeff" Anderson is an American film actor, film director, and screenwriter best known for starring as Randal Graves in Clerks and Clerks II...
,
Rosario DawsonRosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...
,
Trevor FehrmanTrevor Gregory Fehrman is an American actor.Trevor was born and grew up in South St. Paul, Minnesota where he performed in theater at his high school and did local commercial acting and modeling before his first TV break for NBC's Encore! Encore!. Both of Trevor's parents were school teachers in...
,
Jennifer Schwalbach SmithJennifer Schwalbach Smith , sometimes credited as Jennifer Schwalbach, is an American actress, former reporter for USA Today, digital broadcaster, and the wife of film director Kevin Smith.-Early life:...
,
Jason MewesJason Edward Mewes is an American television, film actor, and internet radio show host best known for playing Jay, the vocal half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in longtime friend Kevin Smith's films.-Early life:...
and Kevin Smith, and picks up with the original characters from
Clerks: Dante Hicks, Randal Graves and
Jay and Silent BobJay and Silent Bob are fictional characters portrayed by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively, in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse, a fictional universe created and used in most films, comics and television by Smith, which began in Clerks....
10 years after the events of the first film. The film was released on July 21, 2006; it screened out of competition at the
2006 Cannes Film FestivalThe 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
and won the Audience Award at the 2006
Edinburgh International Film FestivalThe Edinburgh International Film Festival is an annual fortnight of cinema screenings and related events taking place each June. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival...
.
Plot
Twelve years after the events of the
first filmClerks is a 1994 independent comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also appears in the film as Silent Bob. Starring Brian O'Halloran as Dante Hicks and Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves, it presents a day in the lives of two store clerks and their acquaintances...
, Dante Hicks (
Brian O'HalloranBrian Christopher O'Halloran is an American actor best known for his roles in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse films, notably as Dante Hicks in Smith's debut film Clerks and its 2006 sequel, Clerks II...
) opens the Quick Stop convenience store to find that it is on fire; Randal (
Jeff AndersonJeffrey Allan "Jeff" Anderson is an American film actor, film director, and screenwriter best known for starring as Randal Graves in Clerks and Clerks II...
) had left the coffee pot on after closing the night before. As a result of the Quick Stop's destruction, Dante and Randal begin working at a Mooby's fast food restaurant. A year later, Dante is planning to leave his
minimum wageA minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
lifestyle in favor of a family life in
FloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
with his fiancée Emma Bunting (
Jennifer SchwalbachJennifer Schwalbach Smith , sometimes credited as Jennifer Schwalbach, is an American actress, former reporter for USA Today, digital broadcaster, and the wife of film director Kevin Smith.-Early life:...
), whose father will provide them with a home and a business to run. This leaves Randal bitterly disappointed, who fears that with Dante moving to Florida would leave him without his best friend.
Jay and Silent BobJay and Silent Bob are fictional characters portrayed by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively, in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse, a fictional universe created and used in most films, comics and television by Smith, which began in Clerks....
(
Jason MewesJason Edward Mewes is an American television, film actor, and internet radio show host best known for playing Jay, the vocal half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in longtime friend Kevin Smith's films.-Early life:...
and
Kevin SmithKevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
) have since followed Dante and Randal, and now loiter outside of Mooby's. Jay and Silent Bob no longer do drugs after they were arrested for the possession of drugs and were sent to
rehab-Mental health:* Drug rehabilitation* Rehabilitation , the rehabilitation of criminal behavior.* Rehabilitation , therapy aimed at improving neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished by disease or traumatic injury...
, and become devout
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s following their release. However, Jay and Silent Bob continue selling drugs.
Throughout the film, many misadventures occur within Mooby's; among these incidents are arguments between Randal and Dante, as well as arguments between Randal and Elias (
Trevor FehrmanTrevor Gregory Fehrman is an American actor.Trevor was born and grew up in South St. Paul, Minnesota where he performed in theater at his high school and did local commercial acting and modeling before his first TV break for NBC's Encore! Encore!. Both of Trevor's parents were school teachers in...
), another Mooby's employee, as well and with a customer (
Kevin WeismanKevin Weisman is an American film, television and stage actor. His best-known acting role was that of Marshall Flinkman on the television series Alias .-Early life:...
) who is a fan of
The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
. Other incidents include when Randal and Dante unintentionally give Jay and Silent Bob inedible food, as well as when Randal uses a racial slur in front of a couple of black customers, although Randal did not directly insult them nor did he know the term he used was actually a racial slur; this nearly gets Randal fired. Another incident was when a former fellow high school student, Lance Dowds (Jason Lee), taunts Dante and Randal for their jobs, prompting Randal to ease his anger through going
go-kartingKart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits...
, in which Dante accompanies him, despite leaving work without asking permission by their boss Becky Scott (
Rosario DawsonRosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...
), leaving her and Elias to deal with customers on their own.
Dante confesses to Becky that he is worried about dancing at his wedding, so she takes him up onto the roof of the restaurant to teach him some moves. Dante soon lets go of his inhibitions and learns how to dance. When the song ends, Dante, caught up in the moment, tells Becky he loves her, and she reveals to him that she is
pregnantPregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
; Dante and Becky had a
one night standOne Night Stand is an HBO stand-up series that first aired on February 15, 1989. The half-hour series aired weekly and featured stand-up comedy specials from some of the top performing comedians. The series originally comprised 55 specials over the course of its four years on HBO...
on the prep table a few weeks before. Becky tells Dante not to tell anyone about the baby; however Dante tells Randal, who is shocked and criticizes Dante for cheating on his fiancee. An angered Becky leaves when she learns that Dante told Randal.
Randal encourages Dante to leave Mooby's in search for Becky, and in the meantime, sets up a surprise going away party for Dante. Randal hires "Kinky Kelly and the Sexy Stud," a
donkey showA donkey show is a form of sex tourism entertainment most often associated with Tijuana, Mexico, in which a local woman engages in zoophilia with a donkey....
with a
fog machineA fog machine or smoke machine is a device which emits a dense vapour that appears similar to fog or smoke. This artificial fog is most commonly used in professional entertainment applications, but smaller, more affordable fog machines are becoming common for personal use. Fog machines can also be...
. When Dante comes back, he mistakes the fog for a fire and calls the fire department, but upon discovering that it is not a fire, he proceeds to watch the show with Randal, Jay, Bob, and Elias. The group soon discovers that "Kinky Kelly" is, in fact, the donkey, while the guy (
Zak KnutsonZak Knutson is a movie producer and actor. He has a company called Chop Shop Entertainment with longtime friend Joey Figueroa...
), whom Randal thought to be the
pimpA pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
, is "The Sexy Stud". When Becky returns, Dante tells her that he believes that she feels the same way about him as he does about her. As they kiss, Emma arrives. She throws her engagement ring at Becky and angrily storms off.
The fire and police departments soon arrive and discover the show. Dante, Randal, Elias, Jay, Silent Bob, and The Sexy Stud are detained and jailed. The Sexy Stud tells the others that they will soon be released, and that he will have to pay a fine for his acts. Nevertheless, Dante blames Randal for ruining his life and expresses his eagerness to start a new life without Randal, while Randal condemns Dante for wanting to move to Florida and even goes as far as calling Dante a "fucking drone", for Randal's view that Dante wants to live his life under the standards of others. Amid the argument, Randal proposes that they buy the Quick Stop and re-open it, although Dante reacts by saying that neither two have the money to purchase the store. Jay and Silent Bob, who were watching the confrontation between Dante and Randal, offer to lend them some money (from the royalties they collected following the events of
Jay and Silent Bob Strike BackJay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a 2001 American action adventure comedy film written, directed by, and starring Kevin Smith as Silent Bob, the fifth to be set in his View Askewniverse, a growing collection of characters and settings that developed out of his cult favorite Clerks...
) on the condition that they can loiter outside of the Quick Stop. Randal accepts their offer, but Dante remains somewhat skeptical, prompting Randal to confess his fear of losing Dante. As a result, Dante agrees to the proposition as well, and after his release, he proposes to Becky, who accepts. Elias applies for a job and is hired at RST Video, the store adjacent to Quick Stop. In the very last scene, with the store open, Dante says, "Can you feel it? Today is the first day of the rest of our lives."
Cast
The main characters from the original film are Dante, Randal, and
Jay and Silent BobJay and Silent Bob are fictional characters portrayed by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively, in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse, a fictional universe created and used in most films, comics and television by Smith, which began in Clerks....
.
Walt FlanaganWalter Flanagan is an American actor, podcaster, songwriter, comic book artist and comic book store proprietor. Flanagan is a long-time friend of Kevin Smith, and it was Flanagan who had turned Smith back onto comic books.Flanagan is also co-host of the "Tell 'Em Steve-Dave!" podcast with...
and Smith's mother, Grace Smith, both make cameos at the end of the film as customers in the new Quick Stop, reprising their roles in the original film. Flanagan is the customer who asks for a pack of cigarettes, while Grace Smith is the one who checks each gallon of milk for the expiration date.
Ben AffleckBenjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
and
Jason LeeJason Michael Lee is an American actor and skateboarder known for his role as the title character on the NBC television series My Name is Earl, his portrayal of Syndrome in the film The Incredibles, his role as Dave Seville in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and his work with director Kevin...
make a
cameoA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as Mooby's customers as does comedian/actress
Wanda SykesWanda Sykes is an American writer, stand-up comedian, actress, and voice artist. She earned the 1999 Emmy Award for her writing on The Chris Rock Show. In 2004 Entertainment Weekly named Sykes as one of the 25 funniest people in America...
.
- Brian O'Halloran
Brian Christopher O'Halloran is an American actor best known for his roles in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse films, notably as Dante Hicks in Smith's debut film Clerks and its 2006 sequel, Clerks II...
as Dante Hicks
- Jeff Anderson
Jeffrey Allan "Jeff" Anderson is an American film actor, film director, and screenwriter best known for starring as Randal Graves in Clerks and Clerks II...
as Randal Graves
- Rosario Dawson
Rosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...
as Becky Scott
- Trevor Fehrman
Trevor Gregory Fehrman is an American actor.Trevor was born and grew up in South St. Paul, Minnesota where he performed in theater at his high school and did local commercial acting and modeling before his first TV break for NBC's Encore! Encore!. Both of Trevor's parents were school teachers in...
as Elias Grover
- Jennifer Schwalbach
Jennifer Schwalbach Smith , sometimes credited as Jennifer Schwalbach, is an American actress, former reporter for USA Today, digital broadcaster, and the wife of film director Kevin Smith.-Early life:...
as Emma Bunting
- Jason Mewes
Jason Edward Mewes is an American television, film actor, and internet radio show host best known for playing Jay, the vocal half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in longtime friend Kevin Smith's films.-Early life:...
as JayJay and Silent Bob are fictional characters portrayed by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively, in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse, a fictional universe created and used in most films, comics and television by Smith, which began in Clerks....
- Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
as Silent BobJay and Silent Bob are fictional characters portrayed by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively, in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse, a fictional universe created and used in most films, comics and television by Smith, which began in Clerks....
- Jason Lee
Jason Michael Lee is an American actor and skateboarder known for his role as the title character on the NBC television series My Name is Earl, his portrayal of Syndrome in the film The Incredibles, his role as Dave Seville in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and his work with director Kevin...
as Lance Dowds
- Zak Knutson
Zak Knutson is a movie producer and actor. He has a company called Chop Shop Entertainment with longtime friend Joey Figueroa...
as Sexy Stud
- Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes is an American writer, stand-up comedian, actress, and voice artist. She earned the 1999 Emmy Award for her writing on The Chris Rock Show. In 2004 Entertainment Weekly named Sykes as one of the 25 funniest people in America...
as Angry customer
- Earthquake
Nathaniel Martin Stroman , best known as "Earthquake", is an African-American actor, voice artist, and comedian.Earthquake performed a half-hour HBO special as part of the series One Night Stand, which first aired on August 26, 2005. He also had a small role in Kevin Smith's film Clerks II, and a...
as Angry customer's husband
- Ethan Suplee
Ethan Suplee is an American film and television actor best known for his roles as Seth Ryan in American History X, Louie Lastik in Remember the Titans, Frankie in Boy Meets World, Randy Hickey in My Name Is Earl, Thumper in The Butterfly Effect, Dewey in Unstoppable, and his roles in Kevin Smith...
as Weed customer
- Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
as Gawking guy
- Kevin Weisman
Kevin Weisman is an American film, television and stage actor. His best-known acting role was that of Marshall Flinkman on the television series Alias .-Early life:...
as HobbitHobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...
lover
Production
In 1999, the original title was slated to be
Clerks 2: Hardly Clerkin (cf.
Jerry LewisJerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
's
Hardly WorkingHardly Working is a comedy film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It was filmed in 1979, and was released in Europe in 1980 and in the United States on April 3, 1981 through 20th Century Fox.-Plot:...
), as seen in the credits of
DogmaDogma is a 1999 American adventure fantasy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also stars in the film along with an ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Alan Rickman, Bud Cort, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, George Carlin, Janeane Garofalo,...
. Smith later modified the title to
The Passion of the Clerks, lampooning the title of
Mel GibsonMel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
's
The Passion of the ChristThe Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
. According to the DVD documentary, the title was changed to simply
Clerks II, due to negative reaction to the "Passion" title. The film was shot September–November 2005. It originally scheduled for a 2005 release, and then a January 2006 release, but the production was pushed back due to other projects and Kevin Smith's involvement in the romantic comedy
Catch and Release.
Smith released production diaries on the
Clerks II website (see links below). They chronicle the entire making of the film from the first rehearsals all the way through to the final release. Some of these web diaries are also available on the two-disc
DVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of the film. Smith released a Web-only teaser trailer on the
Clerks II website on January 9, 2006, and a web-only trailer on April 2, 2006. Smith also released several shorts featuring action figures from his previous films to promote the film.
Before the release of the film, Smith had mentioned releasing an
MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
file commentary to be downloaded and listened to in movie theaters via
iPodiPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
. Ultimately, theater owners and exhibitors objected, and the plan was scrapped. The abandoned commentary, featuring Smith,
Scott MosierScott A Mosier is an American-Canadian film producer, editor, podcaster and actor best known for his work with director Kevin Smith, with whom he co-hosts the weekly podcast, Smodcast.-Early life:...
and
Jeff AndersonJeffrey Allan "Jeff" Anderson is an American film actor, film director, and screenwriter best known for starring as Randal Graves in Clerks and Clerks II...
, is included on the DVD.
The bookend Quick Stop scenes are in black and white (to simulate the original visual style of
Clerks), while the rest of the film is in color. Smith has said that much of the film's color was
desaturatedIn colorimetry and color theory, colorfulness, chroma, and saturation are related but distinct concepts referring to the perceived intensity of a specific color. Colorfulness is the degree of difference between a color and gray. Chroma is the colorfulness relative to the brightness of another color...
almost to the point where the film had a similar texture to the first film. The contrast in color saturation used can be seen in the '
ABC"ABC" is a 1970 number-one hit song by The Jackson 5. "ABC" was written with the same design as "I Want You Back", and was first heard on American Bandstand in February 1970. "ABC" knocked The Beatles song "Let It Be" out of the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970...
sequence' in which a more vibrant and saturated
color temperatureColor temperature is a characteristic of visible light that has important applications in lighting, photography, videography, publishing, manufacturing, astrophysics, and other fields. The color temperature of a light source is the temperature of an ideal black-body radiator that radiates light of...
is used to give a warm and sunny look that adds to the playful nature of the piece.
Locations
The Mooby's restaurant was a shut-down
Burger KingBurger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
at 8572 Stanton Ave in
Buena Park, CaliforniaBuena Park is a city in northwestern Orange County, California. As of Census 2010 the population was 80,530. The city is adjacent to the city of Anaheim and is 12 miles northwest of downtown Santa Ana. The Current OMB metropolitan designation for Buena Park and the Orange County Area is "Santa...
, (near
Knott's Berry FarmKnott's Berry Farm is a theme park in Buena Park, California, now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, and a line of jams, jellies, preserves, and other specialty food, now part of The J. M. Smucker Company based in Placentia, California....
), which has since been demolished. The final days of principal photography were filmed at the Quick Stop and R.S.T. Video stores in
Leonardo, New JerseyLeonardo is a census-designated place located within Middletown Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP population was 2,757...
, with some exceptions, the most notable being the go-kart scene, which was shot at Speedzone in City of Industry, California. The opening sequence where Randal and Dante are driving to work is a montage of Route 35, mostly in Middletown, NJ.
Casting
Brian O'HalloranBrian Christopher O'Halloran is an American actor best known for his roles in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse films, notably as Dante Hicks in Smith's debut film Clerks and its 2006 sequel, Clerks II...
,
Jeff AndersonJeffrey Allan "Jeff" Anderson is an American film actor, film director, and screenwriter best known for starring as Randal Graves in Clerks and Clerks II...
,
Jason MewesJason Edward Mewes is an American television, film actor, and internet radio show host best known for playing Jay, the vocal half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in longtime friend Kevin Smith's films.-Early life:...
, and
Kevin SmithKevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
all reprised their roles from the first film.
According to the DVD commentary, Kevin Smith originally wanted to cast his wife
Jennifer Schwalbach SmithJennifer Schwalbach Smith , sometimes credited as Jennifer Schwalbach, is an American actress, former reporter for USA Today, digital broadcaster, and the wife of film director Kevin Smith.-Early life:...
as Becky. Executive Producer
Harvey WeinsteinHarvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
objected, however, as he wanted a known actress to play the role, for marketing reasons. Other actresses that Smith had met with were
Sarah SilvermanSarah Kate Silverman is a Jewish American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion....
and
Bryce Dallas HowardBryce Dallas Howard is an American film actress and daughter of director Ron Howard. She made her acting debut in her father's 1989 movie Parenthood and went on to have small roles in films and make stage appearances for the next several years...
, who both declined. Smith recalls having lunch with Howard, who said she was interested in the film but ultimately passed in order to do
Lady in the WaterThe soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. The last four tracks are non-soundtrack songs from singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost, Indie rock band A Whisper in the Noise, and rock 'n' roll revivalists Silvertide. Each of the four songs was written by Bob Dylan...
. Silverman said she didn't want to play the character Becky as she had been cast as girlfriends in numerous other productions and feared type-casting, but loved the script and would have been more than willing to play the part of Randal.
Rachel WeiszRachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...
was another name the studio considered, but Smith figured she would turn the role down and never offered her the part.
Ellen PompeoEllen Kathleen Pompeo is an American actress, known for playing the title role of Meredith Grey on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy.-Early life:...
expressed an interest but could not commit due to scheduling difficulties with
Grey's AnatomyGrey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
. Finally, the role was offered to
Rosario DawsonRosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...
, who loved the script. She later said that reading the "donkey show" scene sealed the deal for her.
Jennifer Schwalbach SmithJennifer Schwalbach Smith , sometimes credited as Jennifer Schwalbach, is an American actress, former reporter for USA Today, digital broadcaster, and the wife of film director Kevin Smith.-Early life:...
was given the secondary female role of Emma. Smith also cast his daughter Harley as the little girl Dante waves to in the window and his mother Grace as the Milk Maid, reprising her role from the first film.
The character of Elias was played by
Trevor FehrmanTrevor Gregory Fehrman is an American actor.Trevor was born and grew up in South St. Paul, Minnesota where he performed in theater at his high school and did local commercial acting and modeling before his first TV break for NBC's Encore! Encore!. Both of Trevor's parents were school teachers in...
, who had previously worked with
Jeff AndersonJeffrey Allan "Jeff" Anderson is an American film actor, film director, and screenwriter best known for starring as Randal Graves in Clerks and Clerks II...
in his film,
Now You KnowNow You Know is a comedy film directed, written by and starring Jeff Anderson. The film was produced by the Lumberyard production company...
. Smith saw him in the film and was impressed enough to give him a part. In keeping with Smith's tradition of casting actors that he has previously worked with, both
Jason LeeJason Michael Lee is an American actor and skateboarder known for his role as the title character on the NBC television series My Name is Earl, his portrayal of Syndrome in the film The Incredibles, his role as Dave Seville in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and his work with director Kevin...
and
Ben AffleckBenjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
had parts in the film. Lee played Randal's old enemy, Lance Dowds, and Affleck played a random Mooby's customer. After finding no one else who could pull off being the Sexy Stud, Smith turned to crew member
Zak Charles KnutsonZak Knutson is a movie producer and actor. He has a company called Chop Shop Entertainment with longtime friend Joey Figueroa...
to fill the role.
At the
Clerks IIs
MySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
account, a contest was held in which the first 10,000 MySpace users who added
Clerks II as a friend would have their name in the theatrical and DVD end credits; The list follows the View Askew and
Weinstein CompanyThe Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...
logos. The names are not present in the credits on the Region 2 DVD.
Rating
The film was originally planned to be released without an
MPAA film ratingThe Motion Picture Association of America's film-rating system is used in the U.S. and its territories to rate a film's thematic and content suitability for certain audiences. The MPAA system applies only to motion pictures that are submitted for rating. Other media may be rated by other entities...
, in order to avoid receiving an NC-17. Smith claimed "If we put it in front of the ratings board they'd be like, 'You're insane. We have to create a new rating for that.'" However, he later submitted it, and it received an R rating without any edits.
Box office
The film opened in 2,150 theaters and grossed $10,061,132 domestically in its first weekend. The film's theatrical gross was $24,148,068 domestically, plus an additional $2,833,903 foreign, turning a profit on its reported budget of $5 million. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Critical response
The film received generally positive reviews from critics. At review aggregator website
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, reviews for
Clerks II were split, with the film rated "fresh" overall (63% positive) but rated "rotten" by the website's top critics (55% positive). , the critical consensus was that the film "dishes up much of the graphic humor and some of the insight that made the 1994 original a cult hit".
MetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
characterised the film's reception as "generally favorable", with metascore of 65 out of 100 from 29 reviews.
In a review for
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, A.O. Scott notes the following:
Justin Chang's review at
VarietyVariety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
called it a "softer, flabbier and considerably higher-budgeted follow-up to Kevin Smith's 1994 indie sensation that nevertheless packs enough riotous exchanges and pungent sexual obscenities to make its 97 minutes pass by with ease."
At an advanced screening for critics,
Joel SiegelJoel Siegel was an American film critic for the ABC morning news show Good Morning America for over 25 years. Born to a Jewish family of Romanian descent, and raised in Los Angeles, California, he graduated cum laude from UCLA. His Romanian-born grandmother from Botoşani survived the Triangle...
walked out of the film approximately 40 minutes in, during a scene in which the characters attempt to procure a
donkeyThe donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
for sexual purposes. Smith claimed on his website that Siegel "bellowed" the phrase "Time to go. This is the first movie I've walked out on in thirty fucking years."
TV GuideTV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
film critic
Maitland McDonagh, who said she was sitting next to Siegel, largely confirms Smith's account but insists that Siegel did not curse or "bellow." However, she reports that he left from the farthest possible exit, thereby making sure everyone noticed his departure. On his
blogA blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, Smith criticized Siegel for unprofessional conduct, in a profanity-laced tirade in which he referred to the critic performing sexual acts on director
M. Night ShyamalanManoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan,known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, is an Indian-born American screenwriter, film director, and producer known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that climax with a twist ending. He is also known for filming his movies in and around...
in regard to his praise for
The VillageThe Village is a 2004 American fantasy-thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan about a end-of-the-19th-century village whose inhabitants live in fear of the creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. The movie was shot in a recreation of a 19th-century village outside Philadelphia,...
before having seen it. Smith later confronted Siegel in a live interview on
Opie and AnthonyOpie and Anthony are the hosts of The Opie & Anthony Show, a talk radio program airing in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Since the merger of the two satellite companies, this is now called Sirius/XM...
; Siegel apologized for cursing and causing a scene, and told Smith that he thinks he is a "fine filmmaker," while still defending his decision to walk out.
British entertainer and film-critic
Jonathan RossJonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer...
has been largely critical of the film, saying he disliked it even more than the first film; he expressed distaste that the film was voted by viewers of his
Film 2006 show into the top ten of the year, in which it ranked sixth. It made other Best of 2006 lists, including being named movie of the year by
MTV IndiaMTV India is the Indian version of MTV , a channel specialising in music and youth culture programming. It was launched in 1996 and is now part of the Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd based in Mumbai. . "MTV India" is one of the oldest Music Television Networks in Asia...
, being voted the 3rd funniest film of 2006 by
IMDbInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
users. and the 9th best reviewed comedy by
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
The film received an eight-minute
standing ovationA standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim...
at the
2006 Cannes Film FestivalThe 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
.
Soundtrack
Music from the Motion Picture Clerks II, the soundtrack to the film, was released on August 22, 2006 by Bulletproof Records. It includes songs from the film, which are of various artists and genres, as well as many soundclips of dialog from the film. One notable exception is that
The Smashing PumpkinsThe Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
' "
1979"1979" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Released in 1996 as the second single from their third studio album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, "1979" was written by frontman Billy Corgan, and features loops and samples that were uncharacteristic of previous...
", which was featured in the film, is not included. It has been replaced by All Too Much's "Think Fast", which was not featured in the film.
- Dialogue: "Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films.Born in the city of Frankfurt...
vs. Helen KellerHelen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
" – 0:27
- "(Nothing But) Flowers
" Flowers" is a song by the rock band Talking Heads. It appears on the band's final album Naked, released in 1988. It was also released as a single accompanied by a successful music video, which featured innovative uses of typography by graphic designer Tibor Kalman...
" – Talking HeadsTalking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
– 5:33
- Dialogue: "Regret" – 0:28
- "Welcome Home
-Remaster bonus tracks:-Personnel:*King Diamond - Vocals, Keyboards*Andy LaRocque - Guitar*Pete Blakk - Guitar*Hal Patino - Bass*Mikkey Dee - Drums...
" – King DiamondKim Bendix Petersen , better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Grammy Award nominated Danish heavy metal musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his extensive vocal range, in particular his usage of falsetto. He is the lead vocalist for both Mercyful Fate and the eponymous King Diamond...
– 4:36
- Dialogue: "Of Parts Enlarged" – 0:17
- "Neckin' on the Swing" – James L. Venable
James L. Venable is a composer, working primarily in American film and television. He is known for his scores to the animated television series The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends...
– 3:49
- Dialogue: "The First of the Fallen" – 0:55
- "The Invisible Guests
-Remaster bonus tracks:-Personnel:*King Diamond - Vocals, Keyboards*Andy LaRocque - Guitar*Pete Blakk - Guitar*Hal Patino - Bass*Mikkey Dee - Drums...
" – King Diamond – 5:04
- Dialogue: "The Unholiest Act" – 0:52
- "Goodbye Horses
"Goodbye Horses" is a 1988 song sung by Q Lazzarus. It was written and produced by William Garvey. There are three versions of the song, of lengths 3:12, 4:20, and the extended version at 6:28....
" – Q LazzarusQ Lazzarus is a female American singer, best known as a one hit wonder for the 1988 song "Goodbye Horses", which was featured in Married to the Mob, The Silence of the Lambs , Clerks II, Lakai Footwear's Fully Flared, Rockstar's videogame Grand Theft Auto IV, EA's videogame Skate 3, and TV shows...
& Garvey – 6:27
- Dialogue: "On Knowing Pickles" – 0:17
- "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is B. J. Thomas's #1 song, written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. David and Bacharach also won Best Original Score. It was recorded in seven takes, after...
" – B. J. ThomasBilly Joe "B. J." Thomas is an American popular singer known for his chart-topping hits in the 1960s and 1970s—appearing on the pop, adult contemporary, country and Hot 100 charts.-Career:...
– 3:02
- Dialogue: "Twelve Step" – 0:20
- "ABC
"ABC" is a 1970 number-one hit song by The Jackson 5. "ABC" was written with the same design as "I Want You Back", and was first heard on American Bandstand in February 1970. "ABC" knocked The Beatles song "Let It Be" out of the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970...
" – The Jackson 5The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...
– 2:58
- Dialogue: "The Perfect Gift" – 0:54
- "Think Fast" – All Too Much – 3:24
- Dialogue: "Party Planning" – 0:31
- "Goin' Away Party" – James L. Venable – 1:44 - This contains segments of the "Clerks" animated series' theme song, also by Venable
- Dialogue: "I'm Gonna Miss You, Man" – 0:39
- "Naughty Girls (Need Love Too)" – Samantha Fox
Samantha Karen "Sam" Fox is an English dance-pop singer, actress, and former glamour model. In 1983, at the age of 16, she began her topless modeling career on Page Three of The Sun, and went on to become a popular pin-up girl...
– 3:21
- Dialogue: "Abstinence" – 1:01
- "Everything
"Everything" is a pop/rock song written by Alanis Morissette and released as the first single from her fourth studio album So-Called Chaos.The song was featured in the 2006 film Clerks II, and is included in the soundtrack.-Release and reception:...
" – Alanis MorissetteAlanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
– 4:36
- Dialogue: "Semantics" – 0:31
- "Misery
"Misery" is a 1995 song performed by the Minneapolis rock band Soul Asylum. Although Let Your Dim Light Shine critically suffered in comparison to its predecessor, Grave Dancers Union, the single, "Misery", reached number 20 on The Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in...
" – Soul AsylumSoul Asylum is an American alternative rock band that formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1983.The band originally formed in 1981 under the name Loud Fast Rules, with the original line-up consisting of Dan Murphy, Dave Pirner, Karl Mueller and Pat Morley. The latter was replaced by Grant Young in...
– 4:24
- Dialogue: "Battle of the Mega-Geeks" – 0:31
Home media
The
Clerks II DVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
was released on November 28, 2006.
The Hollywood ReporterFormerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
reported that the film opened to #4 in terms of rental and DVD sales, and made approximately $6 million in rentals, or a quarter of the total box office gross of $24.2 million.
Clerks II was released on
HD DVDHD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
on January 16, 2007. The release featured the film in
1080p1080p is the shorthand identification for a set of HDTV high-definition video modes that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of resolution and progressive scan, meaning the image is not interlaced as is the case with the 1080i display standard....
high definitionHigh-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
on one disc and the same extras as the DVD, also presented in 1080p, on a second disc. After the conclusion of the
high definition optical disc format warA format war took place between the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD optical disc standards for storing high definition video and audio.These standards emerged between 2000 and 2002 and attracted both the mutual and exclusive support of major consumer electronics manufacturers, personal computer...
in February 2008,
Clerks II was released on
Blu-ray DiscBlu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on February 3, 2009 with two additional special features.
External links