--- title: "Clerks: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/clerks/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/clerks" critics_score: 80 critics_reviews: 11 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Clerks (1994): what the critics said Critics' score 80 from 11 reviews: 10 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews lean strongly positive and have done since the first festival showings. Most critics agree it is funny, and that the comedy comes from the talk: arguments about work, sex and pop culture between two clerks stuck behind a counter for a day. The praise clusters on Kevin Smith’s script, on the pairing of the leads, and on how much he gets from a black-and-white film shot in one New Jersey shop on next to nothing. Several notice a sweetness under the rudeness. The reservations are about the same things. A few find it crude and built as a string of sketches rather than a story; The AV Club goes furthest, calling it an assemblage of vignettes with dubious sexual politics and little substance beyond its DIY roots. The spread is otherwise narrow. The warmest notices are the earliest; later pieces run cooler, and some, The Wrap among them, praise it as much for what it launched as for what it is. ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 4/4. 4 November 1994. Ebert praises the film's authentic portrayal of a day in the life of convenience store clerks, highlighting its grungy charm, inventive dialogue, and natural feel for human comedy despite its bare-bones production. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/clerks-1994) ## Empire — Clark Collis Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic calls the film a triumph for its director and cast, praising its crackling script full of humorous gags and sharp observations alongside a brilliant central performance. It is described as a very hip, funny and cogent movie, hilariously funny and very rude. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/clerks-review/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Duane Byrge Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 1994. Festival review. The film is a wonderfully screwy send-up of down-low Americana and a comedic breath of fresh/stale air. Kevin Smith’s low-key musings and loopy wisdom are wrapped with unaffected sweetness, and the leads bounce off each other with winning craziness. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/clerks-review-movie-kevin-smith-1994-1236404977/) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 25 March 1994. Festival review. Maslin describes the film as a buoyant, bleakly funny comedy about two clerks in a dismal New Jersey store, calling it an exuberant display of film-student ingenuity that spins straw into gold. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/25/movies/review-film-festival-at-a-convenience-store-coolness-to-go.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 19 October 1994. Turan calls the film rude, boisterous, obscene and irreverently funny, praising its crude energy, anarchic sketch humor, and hopeful example of the American independent film scene made on a tiny budget. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-19-ca-51974-story.html) ## Slant Magazine Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2004. Cheap, touching, and downright nasty, Kevin Smith’s first feature remains the ultimate cinematic tribute to slackers. It has aged surprisingly well and fits into his elaborate alternate Jerseyverse, with an entertaining duo of leads amid potty humor and pop-culture references. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/clerks/) ## Time Out — NF Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 3 May 2011. This talky, scabrous and very funny first feature is a bargain-price comedy shot in a New Jersey convenience store. It centres on store clerks discussing career trajectories, pop culture and personal relationships amid awkward customers. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/clerks) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 1994. Festival review. McCarthy finds the no-budgeter randy, irreverent and amusingly deadpan, noting its appeal to Generation X and indie buffs through minimalist storytelling and bold comic strategies from behind a convenience store counter. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/clerks-1200435131/) ## The AV Club — Scott Tobias Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 3 April 2008. The critic finds Clerks a sensation due to Kevin Smith's accessible, unpretentious persona and its role in opening arthouse theaters to rude, lowbrow comedies, though the film itself is a crude assemblage of vignettes with dubious sexual politics and limited substance beyond its DIY roots and blue-collar touches. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-new-cult-canon-clerks-1798213633) ## Eye for Film — Gabriella Trybalska Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 April 2001. The critic calls Clerks a hilarious and thoroughly entertaining comedy marking Kevin Smith's arrival as a writer/director. It highlights the day-in-the-life story of convenience store clerk Dante, running gags, and the introduction of Jay and Silent Bob as standout elements. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/clerks-film-review-by-gabriella-trybalska) ## The Wrap Rating A-. 2 August 2010. The piece hails Clerks as a seminal black-and-white comedy that launched Kevin Smith's career and introduced Jay and Silent Bob. It singles out the film's low-budget origins and cultural impact, including putting Miramax on the map. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/kevin-smith-retrospective-directors-40th-birthday-19794/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/clerks.md