Kevin Smith is one of the best comedic filmmakers working today. Smith pioneered into uncharted waters MANY had dared not to go before. These areas include, but are not limited to: creating a universe that spans many movies, podcasting, and saying fuck...a lot. Unafraid of controversy, or saying fuck…a lot, he created movies that are beloved by many and despised by many. Smith embodies the American dream and is an icon of film comedy today.
Smith got the American dream through hard work and determination that he touches on in his memoir, “Tough Shit: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good.” Smith defined the American dream a bit differently than most but it goes like this: “Figure out something you love to do, and then find a way to make money doing it.” Smith grew up in a small town in Jersey with a happy family and the best parents. Always spoke of his dad being one of his biggest motivators; seeing the potential in his dad never reached. Kevin looks back fondly on memories with his dad often taking him to Wednesday matinees and watching Carlin do stand-up on HBO. Smith also had some very close friends and a great love for pop culture especially movies. He went in and out of college, in a couple cycles, wanting to better himself and then realizing it just wasn’t for him. It became habit for Smith to drive 50 miles just to see an indie flick. Keep in mind this was before GPS. Smith described the turning point in his life as when he saw Slacker. The movie was so different from anything he had ever seen and it inspired him to create.
Smith wrote, directed, produced, edited and acted Clerks. He funded the movie by taking out and maxing more than eight credit cards and selling some of his beloved comic book collection to a local pawn shop. He shot the film at the place of his work: The Quick Stop. Only during closed hours, per conditions of his boss. During the day he’s a clerk, and during the night a clerk director. This took a toll on him being very tired and slipping consciousness in both parts of his life. After the 21 day shoot, he edited the footage there at the video store, adjacent to the quick stop, for a month. Only having one copy of film, Smith gave it to the projectionist at the Sundance film festival and warned him with great concern for his movie. The hard work and his great financial risk paid off when he won awards from Sundance to Cannes. Miramax bought the distributing rights to Clerks for 227,000$. The MPAA wanted to give the film an NC-17 rating based solely on the explicit dialogue. Miramax fought hard and got the decision appealed. The film went on to make 3 million dollars in box office sales.
Kevin Smith now, comic book collection back in hand, went on to make what Miramax though would be a slam-dunk from the new kid on the block, Mallrats. Luckily Smith already secured plans for Chasing Amy before the critics slammed the film. Miramax wanted an all-star cast that they had worked with before against Smiths mostly unknowns. On top of a 5 million dollar budget. Smith make the remark, “Almost 5 million dollars more than the Clerks budget of 27,000.” Smith gave Harvey Weinstein, co-founder of Miramax, the deal I’ll front the budget, 250,000$, and if you want it, buy it. If not I’ll sell it to someone else. Harvey Weinstein accepted and luckily for Smith’s career. Chasing Amy locked his position as a good filmmaker not just in Miramax’s eyes but in everybody else who didn’t like Mallrats and thought he was a one hit wonder. With the studio’s eternal confidence Smith went on to make movies about anything ranging from, but not limited to, Jesus playing skee-ball in Jersey, to clerks riding go-karts in Jersey.
Just what is it about these movies that resonate to the people who see them? The bell curve is used a great deal in statistics. It describes a peak, in the middle of a said “bell,” when the vast majority fall within a tight window. When inverted the bell shape is still there but we see two peaks. I’m using this to describe the general reaction to Smith’s movies. While the audience may not be 50/50 in number of the side there are only two options: love or loathe. There is no middle ground for a Smith film. If one was to hear even just one scene it could be determined as a Smith film. Yet, it isn’t the style itself that polarizes people when they watch his movies. If this was the case then Linklater would have the same problems as Smith. It’s the content of his movies that splits the audience. Smith writes characters and situations that serve comedic purpose to most, and offensive to others. Most specifically Dogma is a movie revolving around religion. The film has a great time at the expense of anyone who doesn’t see the movie for what it is, a satirical comedy. Even before the release, the Catholic Church organized protests to the film witch Smith participated in on their side. “It was like free promotion,” Smith said in an interview once. Even though he did deny any accusation brought up against his “negative agenda” towards the religion. The film depicted angels as emotionally human, the apostles saying fuck…a lot, and the worst had to be god taking the form of Alanis Morissette. One such scene depicts an angel convincing a nun to forgo her faith then take money she had been collecting to get a nice dress. Despite this the film became his best grossing film until Zach and Miri Make a Porno.
Smith is known best for his writing. He writes dialogue with pop culture inspired debates. These conversations are used to allow us in the audience feel as if we are there with them. Movies usually make us feel like we are out of our world and watching or in theirs but with Kevin Smith movies we feel like a bystander. All of his movies revolve around this hang-out flick feel at one point or another, and it’s all due to his dialogue that give us this sense. From comic book superheroes in Mallrats to LOTR vs Star Wars, Smith creates these conversations that bring us out of the theatre into the scene.
Kevin Smith is underrated I feel mostly due to his nature in film. Yes his movies are somewhat childish, insert gross or dick joke here, but this goes back to week one with comedy as an art. Comedy is undervalued in critical sense yes I don’t have to sell my point to you. So let’s contrast his movies with someone who makes similar films but on the other side of the spectrum. Richard Linklater, all of his movies have a hangout feel. Dazed and Confused is made to feel real in the moment events that just flow from one scene to the next on the last day of school 1976. Boyhood is literally filmed with real ageing actors. Why is it because the emotions these movies evoke are different from Smiths it’s not cannon? But in every Kevin Smith movie there is heart. Rather it’s Randal upset that Dante is leaving him forever, or Zach and Miri realizing that they do love each other. However brief these moments are they exist polar to the rest of the movie. That is why when these moments happen they hit and they hit hard.
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