When we are growing up, our parents tell us that we can be anything we want to be as long as we put our minds to it, and that everything is within our reach. We believe this initially, but for some, the world is harsher than they are prepared for. Those who grow up dreaming of being firemen or astronauts are sad to discover that the reality is something much more mundane or ordinary. We sell ourselves short, we become used to the normalcy of our lives, and before we even know it, we've forgotten about pursuing our dreams and are content just to live life. The characters of Clerks II, the sequel to the 1994 indie film hit, are people who are more than used to the mundane. They may have once been told they had potential, but they have chosen to ignore it most of their lives. Director Kevin Smith has brought us a raunchy comedy with a bittersweet center about what happens when you realize life is passing you by.

Ten years have passed since the original film, and lifelong friends Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) are in the same place in life they were when they were angry early 20-somethings working at a local convenience store. They're now angry early 30-somethings, and fate has forced them to leave their jobs after the store burns down. Having been working at a local fast food restaurant called Mooby's the past year, Dante thinks he's finally found his one way ticket out of his mundane New Jersey life. He's engaged to be married to a beautiful, yet controlling, young woman named Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach), and today is his last day on the job before he moves with her to Florida to start a new life. However, there are some hesitations. During the past year, he's struck up a close relationship with the restaurant's beautiful young manager, Becky (Rosario Dawson), that has grown so close that he's starting to wonder if Emma is truly the right girl for him. While Randal is content to argue with co-workers and customers over the merits of film trilogies, Dante knows there must be more to life, and finds himself at a crossroads between two women who can promise him very different things out of life.

The original Clerks launched Kevin Smith to fame because of its smart and frank dialogue about working at a convenience store, comic books, and Star Wars - three things that Smith was more than familiar with in real life. It was one of those right films at the right time moments, as it tapped into a generation that had been deemed as being "slackers", and spoke directly to them. Clerks II speaks directly to that same audience, only 10-years later. Specifically, the ones who have not advanced far past where they were at the time the original came out. While I initially questioned the necessity for a sequel to Clerks walking into the movie, it soon becomes apparent what Smith is trying to do. In a way, this is his most heartfelt and message-driven film yet. This time, he is speaking to the members of his fanbase who may still be confused about their lives, or who may have become slaves to normalcy. It is never sappy or preachy, the dialogue speaks directly from the mouth of someone who has been there, or had the same concerns or fears as his characters. As Dante examines his life and the events that led him up to this point throughout the film, we can identify with his personal fears and insecurities. I feel that Kevin Smith has made full use out of this sequel, using it to advance his characters, rather than just giving us another rehash.

Of course, the message is only a small part of the film. Most of it is devoted to Smith's typical foul-mouthed sex-driven geek culture humor, and fans should not be disappointed. The scene where Randel argues with one of his co-workers and a customer over which was the better trilogy, Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, is one of the funnier dialogue exchanges I've heard in a movie this year. And, as always, fan favorite characters Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) are there to offer their bizarre commentary on the events happening around them, without actually participating in anything. The movie's humor is crude and comes dangerously close to crossing the line (a scene late in the film concerning a very graphic sex act with a donkey makes you wonder how much had to be cut to avoid an NC-17 rating), but also knows how to hold itself back so it never becomes too much to watch. While most of the humor is of the juvenile variety, there are some scenes where Smith actually goes for a slightly gentler source of getting laughs. The key stand out is a musical/dance number set to a classic Jackson 5 song that may come out of left field, but I must admit, it's charming and very funny.

Where Clerks II falters is that it takes a while for the movie to find its footing. The first half is wildly uneven and not as funny as the later half. This is mainly because it takes a while for Smith's screenplay to find some coherency. The first half comes across more as a loosely connected series of raunchy skits and gross out gags. It's not until the movie starts focusing a bit more on its characters that the humor starts to have more weight, because there is more connection between the movie and audience. This is a movie that I started out being not very interested in, but my interest grew as it went along when I realized this wasn't just a sell out sequel to make more money. Even when the film is not in its best form, it's still watchable thanks to a great cast. Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson fit immediately back into their roles, and they certainly have a good Odd Couple relationship and play off of each other well. But, the real stand out is newcomer to the series, Rosario Dawson, who is smart, sexy and very sweet as boss Becky. Smith has written the character as a realistic woman, and Dawson's honest performance only makes it even better.

While Clerks II may not be perfect, it is a lot better than I thought it would be, and actually has something very intelligent to say once you look past the crudeness of the humor. For his first attempt at a sequel, Kevin Smith obviously understands that you need to move your characters forward, while not taking them away from what made them likeable to audiences the first time around. Is the sequel better than the first? Not really. Clerks was kind of one of those once in a lifetime movies. No filmmaker ever has another one of those, and although Smith tries, he never quite captures the same essence. But, he does send us out of the theater with a lot of thoughts in our head about the film we just saw, and that's a lot more than I expected when I was walking into the cinema.

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