1994 black and white comedy Clerks provided one of the rare and probably the most spectacular examples of American Dream actually working in US film industry. Kevin Smith, a sales clerk, invested his own 27,525 US$ and used friends for cast for semi-autobigraphical story about clerks in Leonardo, New Jersey. Protagonist and his alter ego, played by Brian O’Halloran, is Dante Hicks, a sales clerk, and the plot show a day in his life, when he and his friend Randal Graves (played by Jeff Anderson), clerk in neighbouring video store, have to deal with all kinds of bizarre customers. Following the premiere, Clerks immediately became a darling of critics, but also the broader public, which found small independent films fashionable at the time. Smith’s talent is, however, undisputed here – he uses miniscule resources to great effect, succeeding in both entertaining the audience with mix of dark humour and pop culture references, but also by giving the insight into darker aspects of Generation X life. Clerks not only became cult classic and allowed Smith to continue his career as major Hollywood player, but also led to decades-long media franchise.
RATING: 9/10
