I was lucky enough to go to an advanced screening of this film, a luxury not often afforded to us normal movie goers, and a luxury not appreciated by a critic that I don't need to name. This movie was filled with laughs, but still managed to tell a truly genuine story. A story about people that get trapped in their dead end jobs, and struggle to find happiness and try to decide what they want in life. Eventually teaching acceptance and promoting individualism rather than trying to live up to some kind of social standard.
I was very impressed with the casting, everyone was great, and it was great to see some familiar faces, Afflec and Lee really left an impression even though they were only present in one scene each. Smith really presents a dramatic tone with his directing, a tone which is rarely set nowadays with most directors trying to match the style of Spielberg, Hitchcock, or (insert successful director here), and leave the movie looking like an impression, Smith isn't afraid to use his own style. Most movies today are very cookie cutter, but this is a refreshing change. What happened to directors just directing, instead of trying to follow a formula to get rich? Smith is a genuine and modest filmmaker, we can only hope that he keeps making movies, and maybe he'll inspire more "Hollywood" directors to stick to good/original material rather than weak big budget movies with all the latest young stars stinking up the screen. Cheers to Kevin Smith, cheers to Clerks II.
9 / 10
