Clerks is the story of a Generation X, college dropout named Dante, who works at the local convenience store. The film begins with Dante being dragged out of his slumber by a call from his boss. His boss asks him to come in on his day off, because someone got sick. The day turns into a complete nightmare as anything bad that could happen to Dante does. Joined by his best friend Randall, who works in the same strip mall at a video store, Dante not only has to make it through the worst day of his life, but also deal with a barage of stupid questions and customers.
Clerks was Kevin Smith first film. The funding for the production of the film came from ten maxed out credit cards, money he got by selling his comic book collection, a family donation, paychecks from the Quick Stop and RST Video portrayed in the film, and a Federal Compensation check he received from his car being lost in a flood. Together this all added up to $27,575, thus the movie was shot in black and white to accommodate Smith's budget.
This movie began on the road to distribution at the Independent Feature Film Market (IFFM). It was seen there by Bob Hawk of the Sudance Advisory Committee, and thus picked up and shown at the Sundace in 1994. After Sundance the movie was picked up by Mirimax pictures, which brought it to the public eye. Not even the actor who played Dante, Brian O'Halloran, expected the movie to ever be seen. He just figured that it would be something neat to show his friends. The movie became a smash hit and launched Kevin Smith into the public eye in a matter of no time.
The official cast photo which appeared on the film poster. Jay (Jason Mewes) doesn't not appear, because Mirimax thought he was too scary, and, thus, make people shy away from the movie.
Credits:
Directed by: Kevin Smith
Writing credits: Kevin Smith
Cast:
Brian O'Halloran....Dante Hicks
Jeff Anderson....Randal Graves
Marilyn Ghigliotti....Veronica
Lisa Spoonhauer....Caitlin Bree
Jason Mewes....Jay
Kevin Smith....Silent Bob
Scott Mosier....Willam the Idiot Manchild/Angry Hockey-PlayingCustomer/Angry Mourner
Scott Schiaffo...Chewlie's Rep.
Al Berkowitz....Old Man
Walter Flanagan....Woolen Cap Smoker/Egg Man/Offended Customer/Cat Admiring Bitter Customer
Ed Hapstak....Sanford/Angry Mourner
Lee Bendick....#812 Wynarski
David Klein....Hunting Cap Smoking Boy/Low I.Q. Video Customer/Hubcap Searching Customer/Angry Mourner/Angry Crowd at Door
Pattijean Csik....Coroner
Ken Clark....Administer of Fine/Orderly
A shot of Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) during his only line of the film.
A shot of the cast, still minus Jay (Jason Mewes)
Randall (Jeff Anderson) selling a pack of cigarettes to a four year old girl.
Dante (Brian O'Halloran) interacting with a customer.
Dante and Randall watching The Best of Both Worlds, while waiting for Caitlin to return from the bathroom.
A shot of the Quick Stop.