Everyone's favorite eternal adolescent is at it again. Kevin Smith picks up where his semirevolutionary debut left off--with two slackers wasting away their days in the minimum-wage grind. Now in their early 30s, best pals Dante Hicks and Randal Graves have honed the art of lazy philosophy to a knifepoint. The gags are still vulgar and sophomoric, but Smith's blade has gotten sharper.
Let's face it--these guys are funny. What small catharsis there is comes when the two are forced out of their gig at the local Quick Stop, but it's the lure of the ladies that really threatens to tear the two apart. Clerks II is much better than most might expect, a sign that the slacker flag may be slightly older and slightly wiser, but is still flying high,