by Josh Sewell
Clerks III
(Rated R for pervasive language, crude sexual material, and drug content. Playing exclusively via Fathom Events screenings September 13-18, followed by a roadshow tour in select cities.)
In the latest sequel to the 1994 comedy that made writer-director Kevin Smith an indie darling, he uses his fictional characters to explore the real-life health scare that nearly killed him. In this version, after a massive heart attack forces him to face his mortality, convenience store owner Randal (Jeff Anderson) decides to make a low-budget movie based on his decades-long work experience. To help pull off the endeavor, he enlists his best friend Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and longtime associates Elias (Trevor Fehrman), Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith).
After a streak of lackluster experiments like Red State, Tusk and Yoga Hosers, Smith is on the upswing following the surprisingly poignant Jay and Silent Bob Reboot and his newest, which packs an even bigger emotional wallop. Clearly, the director and podcaster extraordinaire considered his 2018 widow-maker heart attack a gigantic wake up call. Not only did the terrifying incident impact his health (he lost a bunch of weight, went vegan and hikes all the time), it apparently made him take stock of his career.
As a result, Clerks III is easily the best movie Smith has made since 2008’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno. While it likely won’t attract an audience outside his usual fanbase, it reminded me why I was such a die-hard admirer of the filmmaker’s work in college. Sure, a big part of that is the boost of nostalgia that comes from seeing Anderson, O’Halloran, Mewes and Smith share the screen one more time. But it’s also because the movie has something real to say, even though the message is buried underneath several layers of sex jokes and stoner humor.
No one is going to mistake Anderson and O’Halloran for Marlon Brando or Daniel Day-Lewis, but they’ve inhabited these characters long enough to understand what makes the slackers tick and what would impact their lives enough to generate true change. For Randal, it’s the heart attack. But for Dante, it’s something far more soul-crushing involving Becky (Rosario Dawson, incredible in her brief appearance), the love of his life.
I fully expected Smith to make me laugh (my sense of humor stopped maturing in middle school, so I was an easy target for his raunchy jokes), but what I didn’t expect was how much he’d make me cry. The folks at Lionsgate were kind enough to send me a screener I could watch from the comfort of my couch, and I was surprised to find myself pressing pause so I could grab some tissue to wipe my eyes. The filmmaker aims for the heartstrings on this one and he hits his target.
Smith is visiting Atlanta on his roadshow tour in October, and I’m looking forward to taking part in the experience. There are several elements to the film, including the many celebrity cameos and the sure to be divisive conclusion, that I want to hear him discuss. Tickets are still on sale, so who’s interested in joining me?
Grade: B+
Pinocchio
(Rated PG for peril/scary moments, rude material and some language. Now streaming on Disney+.)
In the latest “live action” (a term I use loosely) remake of a Disney animated classic, iconic filmmaker Robert Zemeckis tackles this familiar tale of a wooden puppet (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) who embarks on a quest to become a real boy. Frequent Zemeckis collaborator Tom Hanks plays Geppetto, the toymaker who creates Pinocchio and treats him as his own son, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt voices Jiminy Cricket, the lively insect who accompanies the puppet on his journey while serving his conscience.
Zemeckis has been hit-or-miss (to put it kindly) since his experimentation with dead-eyed motion capture flicks in the early 2000s. The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol were fine for what they were, but nobody’s really talking about them many years later. I appreciated Flight and Welcome to Marwen despite their flaws, and legitimately enjoyed The Witches, which came and went with little fanfare on HBO Max.
However, the director of my all-time favorite movie (Back to the Future, in case you’re curious) returns to “cash the check” mode in this mostly beat-for-beat remake of the 1940 Disney classic. Despite genuinely terrific performances from Hanks as Geppetto and Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy, there’s not really much here to recommend. Sure, the fidelity to the Pinocchio design from the original flick is nice, but that doesn’t counteract the bulk of the movie is designed mainly to show off Zemeckis’ CGI talents.
Hanks’ introduction as the mourning Geppetto is full of pathos, but immediately following his heartfelt entrance, the movie’s focus shifts to a much less interesting Pinocchio. Broadway legend Cynthia Erivo pops up for a moment as the Blue Fairy, as do Keegan-Michael Key, Lorraine Bracco and Luke Evans in blink-and-you’ll-miss-them roles. But they’re not enough to disguise that the flick’s basic justification for existence is nabbing a few more Disney+ subscriptions.
The most disappointing aspect of Pinocchio is that Zemeckis, who is clearly a gifted screenwriter, opens the movie with a genuinely heartfelt reason for Geppetto making his surrogate son out of wood. Hanks really sells his character’s motivation for creating something so ridiculous on the surface. Sadly, it’s everything that comes after that makes the movie so disappointing. It’s one CGI character and mindless action sequence after another that renders the movie so tedious that it evaporates from the memory as soon as it’s over.
Grade: C+
(Rated R for pervasive language, crude sexual material, and drug content. Playing exclusively via Fathom Events screenings September 13-18, followed by a roadshow tour in select cities.)
In the latest sequel to the 1994 comedy that made writer-director Kevin Smith an indie darling, he uses his fictional characters to explore the real-life health scare that nearly killed him. In this version, after a massive heart attack forces him to face his mortality, convenience store owner Randal (Jeff Anderson) decides to make a low-budget movie based on his decades-long work experience. To help pull off the endeavor, he enlists his best friend Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and longtime associates Elias (Trevor Fehrman), Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith).
After a streak of lackluster experiments like Red State, Tusk and Yoga Hosers, Smith is on the upswing following the surprisingly poignant Jay and Silent Bob Reboot and his newest, which packs an even bigger emotional wallop. Clearly, the director and podcaster extraordinaire considered his 2018 widow-maker heart attack a gigantic wake up call. Not only did the terrifying incident impact his health (he lost a bunch of weight, went vegan and hikes all the time), it apparently made him take stock of his career.
As a result, Clerks III is easily the best movie Smith has made since 2008’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno. While it likely won’t attract an audience outside his usual fanbase, it reminded me why I was such a die-hard admirer of the filmmaker’s work in college. Sure, a big part of that is the boost of nostalgia that comes from seeing Anderson, O’Halloran, Mewes and Smith share the screen one more time. But it’s also because the movie has something real to say, even though the message is buried underneath several layers of sex jokes and stoner humor.
No one is going to mistake Anderson and O’Halloran for Marlon Brando or Daniel Day-Lewis, but they’ve inhabited these characters long enough to understand what makes the slackers tick and what would impact their lives enough to generate true change. For Randal, it’s the heart attack. But for Dante, it’s something far more soul-crushing involving Becky (Rosario Dawson, incredible in her brief appearance), the love of his life.
I fully expected Smith to make me laugh (my sense of humor stopped maturing in middle school, so I was an easy target for his raunchy jokes), but what I didn’t expect was how much he’d make me cry. The folks at Lionsgate were kind enough to send me a screener I could watch from the comfort of my couch, and I was surprised to find myself pressing pause so I could grab some tissue to wipe my eyes. The filmmaker aims for the heartstrings on this one and he hits his target.
Smith is visiting Atlanta on his roadshow tour in October, and I’m looking forward to taking part in the experience. There are several elements to the film, including the many celebrity cameos and the sure to be divisive conclusion, that I want to hear him discuss. Tickets are still on sale, so who’s interested in joining me?
Grade: B+
(Rated PG for peril/scary moments, rude material and some language. Now streaming on Disney+.)
In the latest “live action” (a term I use loosely) remake of a Disney animated classic, iconic filmmaker Robert Zemeckis tackles this familiar tale of a wooden puppet (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) who embarks on a quest to become a real boy. Frequent Zemeckis collaborator Tom Hanks plays Geppetto, the toymaker who creates Pinocchio and treats him as his own son, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt voices Jiminy Cricket, the lively insect who accompanies the puppet on his journey while serving his conscience.
Zemeckis has been hit-or-miss (to put it kindly) since his experimentation with dead-eyed motion capture flicks in the early 2000s. The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol were fine for what they were, but nobody’s really talking about them many years later. I appreciated Flight and Welcome to Marwen despite their flaws, and legitimately enjoyed The Witches, which came and went with little fanfare on HBO Max.
However, the director of my all-time favorite movie (Back to the Future, in case you’re curious) returns to “cash the check” mode in this mostly beat-for-beat remake of the 1940 Disney classic. Despite genuinely terrific performances from Hanks as Geppetto and Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy, there’s not really much here to recommend. Sure, the fidelity to the Pinocchio design from the original flick is nice, but that doesn’t counteract the bulk of the movie is designed mainly to show off Zemeckis’ CGI talents.
Hanks’ introduction as the mourning Geppetto is full of pathos, but immediately following his heartfelt entrance, the movie’s focus shifts to a much less interesting Pinocchio. Broadway legend Cynthia Erivo pops up for a moment as the Blue Fairy, as do Keegan-Michael Key, Lorraine Bracco and Luke Evans in blink-and-you’ll-miss-them roles. But they’re not enough to disguise that the flick’s basic justification for existence is nabbing a few more Disney+ subscriptions.
The most disappointing aspect of Pinocchio is that Zemeckis, who is clearly a gifted screenwriter, opens the movie with a genuinely heartfelt reason for Geppetto making his surrogate son out of wood. Hanks really sells his character’s motivation for creating something so ridiculous on the surface. Sadly, it’s everything that comes after that makes the movie so disappointing. It’s one CGI character and mindless action sequence after another that renders the movie so tedious that it evaporates from the memory as soon as it’s over.
Grade: C+
Reach out to Josh Sewell on Twitter @IAmJoshSewell
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