Clerks and Chasing Amy: Two Screenplays

Love it!!

Kevin Smith sells himself a bit short with that comment (through one of his characters) because behind the obscenities in both works, Smith makes intelligent commentary about youthful angst. In addition to the razor-sharp wit, Smith's other great gift as a storyteller is the ability to deliver social insights through his characters. In Clerks, when Randall reprimands Dante for constantly shirking personal responsibility for Dante's actions, Smith is talking to all of us. Smith's characters in both works are immature but by the end have hopefully learned something that makes them grow, even if just a bit. Maybe we could be so lucky.This book is a great read AFTER you have seen the movies. It contains enjoyable scenes that unfortunately did not make it into the films. If you haven't had the pleasure of viewing the movies, I won't disclose the plot here even in summary as I would not want to spoil your enjoyment of the films. And if you've seen the films, no summary is necessary.

Clerks- a great script. Chasing Amy- excelent script, even better on paper than on screen.One book.Really, if you are into Smith work, or just want a sure fire way of delving into his world, this is the book for you.It also has an introduction that explains how Kevin came to be what he is today.MUST READ

The CLERKS/CHASING AMY screenplay is just as insightful and provacative as the flicks themselves. Having seen the movie too many times to count makes the reading all the more side-splitting. Loveable Randal seemes to come to life in your head while as you now "hear" him say, "I don't appreciate your ruse" or Banky's, "What's a Nubian?" The work also leaves out little bits of dialogue cut from the film but still perpetuates a smooth transition from scene to scene. If you ever watched Chasing Amy or Clerks and said to yourself, "Something's missing from that scene," then I recommend you purchase this masterpiece of lewd humor to fill in that void of lost dialogue. You'll soon discern the cut material from the theatrical release as you read.

If you're here considering buying the screenplays in the first place, and are just looking for a little assurance that it's OK, then I say go on! Do it! If you haven't seen the movies and are going to just buy the script, well... we all have our little absurdities. Take for granted that you need to see the movies, it's meant to be seen that way. If for some reason you hate movies... well I think you might still find reading the script rewarding. The humor is still quite evident. In fact some of it was so plainly ridiculous that I find myself ready to spurt out with a laugh just thinking about it. Mr. Smith is uncannily refreshing with his lack of a strong superego - many people will find some of the dialogue gross. If you can get past that, and you should, you will discover a very warm, ironic writer who, in this writers opinion, is having a great impact already on this generation, and hopefully will continue on through the years. Three Cheers for Smith!As a footnote, I should add that there is a fairly worthwhile introduction by the writer. Furthermore, there is (Especially in 'Amy') quite a bit of dialogue that is cut or altered, and even sometimes added to. And, of course, the comics.

This book which is the screenplays for clerks and chasing amy is better then the movies for one reason. The screenplays contain events which where cut out of the film some of which was never evan filmed.The pictures are good as well for those who have not seen the movie. All in All this is a great book to read. I easily recommend this to kevin smith and movie fans alike.