The beginning of the Kevin Smith series starts with the movie “Clerks.” For all you who think you are a Kevin Smith fan, you must have seen this movie already.

First off, if you have seen any Kevin Smith movie you will notice that really nothing much happens, and the movie is based upon dialogue between characters. It’s a simple formula that started with this film and continued through the rest of his films. The plot is based upon setting and the relationship between characters and this is no different.

“Clerks” starts out with the main characters, Dante and Randal who both work behind the counter at local stores and hate their lives. They both have to go into their dead-end jobs on a Saturday, and deal with customers they particularly do not care for.

Many fun-filled moments occur within the characters and their customers, along with plenty of story telling. My particular favorite is the story about Randal’s uncle who broke his neck.

One of the most important things that came out of this film is the introduction to the characters of Jay and Silent Bob. They appear throughout the movie doing various things and selling certain “goodies.” They really do not have a significant role in this film but of course they bring their good-old-fashion fun antics that we know they offer.

“Clerks” really puts forth Kevin Smith’s originality and his great sense of dialogue. The first movie I have ever seen from Smith was the classic “Mallrats,” so it was in my nature to naturally compare them. Watching “Clerks” for the second time around, I noticed that you should not compare this to the rest of his movies, but take it in as it’s own. This movie is unlike the rest, all his movies are different and this one shows the genius of Kevin Smith.

One thing I found that was a downfall was the poor-acting of the character Randal. Do not get me wrong, he’s hilarious, but I feel that some of the funny moments were lost because of his inability to show emotion and how rapid his speech was. Watching this movie, I thought he was just like the Brody character from “Mallrats,” or at least the beginning of the Brody character.

“Clerks” is a great movie, but for those of you who have not seen a Kevin Smith movie, I would recommend seeing “Mallrats,” or “Dogma” first. After seeing those movies, hopefully you can see this movie for what it really is another Kevin Smith classic.

A-