Considering Kevin Smith’s initial comedic approach on life during his teenage years, it’s no surprise that a majority of the films he’s made are centered around the comedy genre. Even more so that some of his early films and some later ones are based in his hometown of New Jersey and provides the audience a small yet meaningful perspective on what he grew up with and how much of an impact it had on him. As for Smith’s original characters that often are revisited in his works, are enjoyable to see on screen not just for the comedic aspects but also feel like the audience is part of their lives and getting to know them on a more personal level.

 

For his first film Clerks, it takes the a-day-in-the-life setup of a store clerk named Dante Hicks and how he’s called into work on his day off with his recurring statement on how he’s not even supposed to be there today as many events occur inside and outside of the store for him all in one day. It’s a moment like this that possibly many viewers can relate to and are able to connect with the main characters a bit more. The movie overall heavily focuses on character interactions and dialogue which makes the a-day-in-the life structure work so well. It’s also possible that Smith may have implemented what he dealt with during his time as a store clerk onto the film itself given the fact that it takes place at the Quick Stop convenience store which is where Kevin Smith used to work before and during his time making the movie. While the movie had low-budget and was shot entirely in black-and-white, it still manages to take advantage of the settings it had to where it didn’t more than what was already made available.

Smith’s movies after Clerks are no longer shot in black-and-white granted that he has larger budgets to work with and makes his movies appear more polished but he continues to make references to this in his other films such as Clerks II and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. As for the rest of the movies he’s made including the ones previously mentioned, several of them are connected either by the recurring characters from past films making an appearance or the movies themselves take place in the same universe either before or after the events of the first Clerks movie. Almost all of Smith’s movies have an R-rating to them due to mostly the dialogue and possibly graphic content followed within a film which means that his work is intended for older audiences to watch.