Finally caught up and saw Clerks, a once hyped and critically-acclaimed flick. What can I say - I felt like the child in the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’. Can’t anyone else see the king is naked?... The film has been praised for grossing $3mm while being made on a super-tight indie budget of under $30k. It is quite an achievement, though the fact it was first picked up by Miramax may have something to do with this. There are plenty (and much better) indie movies made on a shoestring budget. I see this as no reason for special celebration. It has been praised for smart endless dialogues. I question the smart portion but agree with the endless. It has been praised for its rawness. If having a bunch of actors cite their dialogues as if they are reading it from the page, considered raw these days (or, actually, those days – given it was in 1994), what am I to say? Maybe there is a reason I am a veggie. In short, I just didn’t dig it. Which may be because, as some critics pointed out another quality for this movie, that it truly represent generation-X, a generation I am no part of. Yet, I did get and much enjoyed quite a few other gen-X movies so I don’t think this is the reason. The film has some potential but the thin script is not sufficient and the acting and direction reminded me of second year film school productions.