Product Description

The debut movie by writer-director Kevin Smith, one of a hand-picked selection of some of the most popular and cult-worthy titles on Faber and Faber's extensive list of film scripts. Smith is also writer/director of "Mallrats", "Chasing Amy" and "Dogma".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #413281 in Books
• Published on: 2000-02-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 163 pages

Customer Reviews

Classic Collector's Item
For anyone interested in Kevin Smith, his works, or even just the general process a film goes through from conception to product, this book is a must-have. Containing 2 of Smith's films, arguably his best, with extra scenes that went unshot or in many cases, unfilmed entirely, of which the most missed has to be the original opening to Chasing Amy, I won't spoil it here, but it's perhaps the funniest thing you'll ever read.

Perhaps the best part of this book is the presentation of the short "Bluntman and Chronic" comic shown during the credits of Chasing Amy - any Comic Collector of Kevin Smith fan would die to own this book.

Decent enough, but don't let the title sell it
i've been a huge fan of Kevin Smith since I accidentally recorded Mallrats while trying to tape something entirely different. In particular, Clerks is a wonderful film, funny but touching and actually realistic. So this graphic novel ought to be great, right? Unfortunately, it's not. Clerks has that down-to-earth realism which set it aside from most other similiar films, while this graphic novel throws reality to the wind far too often- Santa Claus appears and buys hardcore pornography, for instance. Occasionally it recaptures that Clerks feel, but generally it does not feel like the same thing at all. The one worst thing involves Dante's attempts to bring his girlfriend out of her necrophilia-induced coma. I'll not spoil it here, but to actually write this scene Smith must have forgotten all of Dante's character and basic morality. On the plus side, it has a "director's cut" scene of what really happened at the funeral (cut from the script for time and cash reasons), but this really didn't add much to the film for me. it's just that bit too ridiculous, but is at least in keeping with the characters. Artwise this is reasonably good, although I think the originals must have been larger, as some scenes are very hard to read. The dialogue still has an occasional hint of Smith's genius, but on the whole this is more Mallrats than Clerks. A real letdown for a fan, and not that interesting to a non-fan.

A great script of a fantastic American film
The American film, Clerks, will always be among my favourite movies and this is because of the fantastic script. Kevin Smith's script, while not the prettiest in terms of language, is both witty and mentally stimulating and touches upon situations many of us face.
It is a clever look at American culture and is the first in a three-part trilogy including Mallrats and Chasing Amy. Smith followed these three with Dogma. What is a shame is that Faber and Faber have only selected Clerks for this range of books.