Clerks

Clerks is a 1994 American black-and-white comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith in his feature directorial debut. Smith also produced and edited the film with Scott Mosier, and it stars Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Lisa Spoonhauer, Jason Mewes, Smith, and Mosier. It presents a day in the lives of store clerks Dante Hicks (O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Anderson) as well as their acquaintances. It is the first of Smith's View Askewniverse films, and introduces several recurring characters, notably Jay and Silent Bob (Mewes and Smith respectively). Clerks was shot for $27,575 in the convenience and video stores where director Smith worked in real life. Upon its theatrical release, it was well received by critics and grossed over $4 million in theaters, launching Smith's career. In 2006, a sequel was released. Additionally, a third installment was released in 2022. It is often regarded as a cult classic and a landmark in independent filmmaking. In 2019, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".