There is something about a Kevin Smith movie (lets just forget Jersey Girl) that raises it above a normal comedy. It's not the fanboyism and inside jokes that permeate his films or the off-color jokes; it's the actual story and substance that all his comedies have. "Clerks II" is the same way. It doesn't just make you laugh, it makes you feel.
Just as Smith's groundbreaking independent debut film, the original "Clerks," "Clerks II" is about more than the hilarious conversations about Transformers or arguments between best friends Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) it's about growing up and finding yourself. As well it should be, since "Clerks II" takes place more than a decade after the original "Clerks." Dante and Randal are still working menial jobs, although in their 30s, but this time at Mooby's (Smith's fictional fast food chain which has played a part in a few of his movies). Oh, and Jay and Silent Bob are still hanging out in front of the store selling weed.
Dante is about to leave it all, though. He plans to marry Emma, move to Florida and leave behind Randal and his boss, Becky — played by the ever more attractive Rosario Dawson — for whom, it is clear, Dante has more than a passing fancy.
Over the course of the day, as pop culture references are dropped and Randal tries to schedule a going away party involving a donkey (you'll have to see the outcome), both guys figure out where they belong.
Here is where "Clerks II" shines. Just as the original movie highlighted the trapped sense of youth in the world ten years ago, "Clerks II" focuses perfectly on the thirty-something life crisis of exactly who we are today. It's a mature note for a movie where many of the jokes come from punchlines far cruder than any fart joke ever told.
"Clerks II" in the end is a guy's movie — not just because of its video/movie/television references and conversations about odd sexual pursuits — but a guy's movie in the way that "Cool Hand Luke" was. In the end, the most important part of life, according to "Clerks II," is not where you are but who you're with — even if who you're with shows up to work an hour late when you're not even supposed to be there that day.