Kevin Smith Picks His Favorite Film He Has Made In His Career

By Zach Bowen

Published Sep 17, 2024

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Kevin Smith picks recently released The 4:30 Movie.

Now, reflecting on his career with Entertainment Weekly, Smith chooses Clerks II as his favorite movie he wrote and directed. Smith notes that Clerks II was intended as a gift to his fans after they ed the original Clerks. He also used the movie as motivation to create his podcast network and touring business, something he is still actively doing nearly 20 years later. He compares Clerks II to The Godfather Part 2, a movie that many see as superior to the original.

Clerks II is honestly one of my favorite films I've ever made. I mean, there's a f*ucking dance number in this movie. Because of Dante and Randal, my whole life changed. When people see me, they [smile] because of some goofy a*s movie I made and stuff. That was Dante and Randal's gift to me. So, in Clerks II, I try to return the favor.

Dante and Randal's dream is to never work for some other a*sshole. I was flabbergasted by how happy I was for my fictional characters, and I realized 'Oh my god, I too can just go buy the Quick Stop,' so to speak. That's why I started podcasting and created this whole other business and a touring business based on podcasting. And as far as sequels go, this is the Godfather 2 to the Godfather that is Clerks. I prefer 2.

Smith Picks One Of His Emotional Movies As His Favorite

Clerks II Is Randal's Movie

Smith's choice is one of his most emotional movies. The majority of Smith's movies have an underlying heart in them, despite often being vulgar-filled comedies. While Clerks III has powerful scenes, like Randal's heart attack or Dante's death, Clerks II also has an emotional monologue at the end of the movie where Randal breaks down in jail and tells Dante what their friendship means and that he wants to buy The Quick Stop so they can run it together.

Kevin Smith Movie	Rotten Tomatoes Score	Audience Score
Clerks	90%	89%
Mallrats	58%	82%
Chasing Amy	87%	83%
Dogma	68%	85%
Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back	52%	75%
Jersey Girl	43%	48%
Clerks II	63%	84%
Zack & Miri Make A Porno	65%	66%
Cop Out	18%	39%
Red State	61%	54%
Tusk	46%	36%
Yoga Hosers	25%	34%
Jay & Silent Bob Reboot	65%	93%
Clerks III	63%	93%
The 4:30 Movie	72%	89%

Killroy Was Here is not included as the movie was released as an NFT and has no critics or audience score.

Of the Clerks trilogy, Clerks II has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score at 63%. However, the audience score is much more favorable, coming in at an 84% approval rating. While not the highest rated in his career, Smith's audience agrees that Clerks II is one of his better movies. Despite taking 16 years for Clerks III to come out, the demand to see more from Dante and Randal was there, and the positive 93% audience score reflects that.

Our Take On Clerks II

Smith Is Right About This Movie

Clerks II was at this point in Smith's career the least autobiographical. All of his previous 6 movies to that point took stories from his life or, in the case of Dogma and Jersey Girl, pulled from working through his feelings about Catholicism and fears of being a father. I agree with Smith, Clerks II is his best movie. The movie takes time to have fun with a large dance number, ups the extreme humor with a bachelor party gone wrong, and makes you care about Dante and Randal. While not only a thank you to his fans, Clerks II shows Smith's growth as a filmmaker.

Source: EW