Poster © Miramax Films. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreComedy
RatedR
Runtime1 hr 32 mins
ReleasedOctober 19, 1994
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorKevin Smith
StarringBrian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti
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Clerks (1994)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
| 🎫Get Tickets | ✎Edit History |
| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Clerks's Details | |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Rated | R |
| Released | 01/22/1994 (Sundance); 10/19/1994 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 32 mins |
| Budget | Not reported |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Clerks's Interests | |
| General | Jammed shutters, rooftop hockey, video rentals, Star Wars debates, gum salesmen, egg shoppers. |
| Music | No composer. Just a 1994 alt-rock mixtape: Soul Asylum, Alice in Chains, Bad Religion. |
| Movies | Mallrats (1995), next stop on the tour. Clerks II (2006), same guys, now in color. |
| Television | Clerks: The Animated Series. ABC aired two episodes and called it a day. |
| Heroes | Randal Graves. Worst employee in New Jersey, best friend Dante could ask for. |
| Clerks's Crew | |
| Director | Kevin Smith |
| Writers | Kevin Smith |
| Producers | Scott Mosier, Kevin Smith |
| Cinematography | David Klein |
| Edited By | Scott Mosier, Kevin Smith |
| Production | View Askew Productions |
| Distributed By | Miramax Films |
Clerks looks like it was shot on a security camera by whoever was working the night shift. A lot of the acting sounds like friends reading lines in somebody’s garage, and the camera barely moves. It cost a reported $27K. It doesn’t matter. The movie is all talk, and the talk is great. Brian O’Halloran’s Dante keeps reminding everyone he wasn’t even supposed to work today, while making zero effort to leave. Jeff Anderson’s Randal is the chaos next door, a video store clerk who treats customers like hecklers at his own comedy set. Their argument about the contractors building the second Death Star is a legit classic. A hockey game on the store roof is pure slacker joy. Some stretches drift, and the rougher humor isn’t for everyone. It made $3.16 million worldwide. A 7.8 because a tiny movie found a voice nobody had heard yet. $916 says you spend your next slow shift at work wondering who built the Death Star and whether they had insurance.
What works: The dialogue is sharp and quotable, and the Randal and Dante friendship gives all that talk real heart.
What doesn’t: The acting is often stiff and amateur, the camera is static, and the rougher humor will lose some viewers.
Who it’s for: Anyone who has ever worked a retail shift and argued about movies to keep from losing their mind.
Spoilers
By the end of the day, Dante has wrecked things with both Veronica and Caitlin, and he and Randal have a real fight that trashes the store. They patch it up while cleaning, and Randal tosses Dante’s homemade sign back at him on the way out with a cheerful reminder that they’re closed.
Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) was supposed to have the day off. Instead his boss calls him in to cover a shift at the Quick Stop in Leonardo, New Jersey, and the shutters are jammed, so he hangs a bedsheet sign insisting they're open. Next door at the video store, his best friend Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) shows up late and treats customers like an audience. Dante's girlfriend Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti) stops by, his ex Caitlin (Lisa Spoonauer) is suddenly in the paper, and Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob hold down the sidewalk. Bob is writer-director Kevin Smith, shooting in black and white. Ninety-two minutes, one very long shift.
Anyone who isn't even supposed to be here today.
Silent Bob / Directorphoto: Tim Blackmon for Galaxy Con, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
| Brian O'Halloran | Dante Hicks |
| Jeff Anderson | Randal Graves |
| Marilyn Ghigliotti | Veronica Loughran |
| Lisa Spoonauer | Caitlin Bree |
| Jason Mewes | Jay |
| Kevin Smith | Silent Bob |
| Scott Mosier | Willam Black |
| Scott Schiaffo | Chewlies gum representative |
| Al Berkowitz | Old Man |
| Walt Flanagan | Woolen Cap Smoker |
| Ed Hapstak | Sanford and Angry funeral woman |
| Pattijean Csik | Coroner |
| Ken Clark | Administer of Fine and Orderly |
| Ernest O'Donnell | Trainer |
| Kimberly Loughran | Heather Jones |
| Gary Stern | Tabloid-reading Customer |
| Lee Bendick | Wynarski the Impatient Customer |
| John Henry Westhead | Olaf the Russian Metalhead |
| Betsy Broussard | Dental School renter |
| Grace Smith | Milk Maid |
| Frances Cresci | Little Smoking Girl |
| Joey Lauren Adams | Alyssa Jones |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 7.7 / 10 (242,061 votes) → 7.7 / 10 (242,070 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +440 Numbers refreshed: Production budget Not reported → $27K; Worldwide box office $3.2M; Domestic box office $3.2M; Opening weekend $32K; Profit / loss (est.) +$1.5M; Rotten Tomatoes 90%; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 90% (61 reviews); Metacritic 70 / 100; IMDb users 7.7 / 10 (242,061 votes); movie.guru score 8.6.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.