The Raunchiest Sequel In Comedy History Is Now Streaming Free

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 18 seconds ago

When Kevin Smith released Clerks 2 in 2006, it felt like a very low-key apology to his fans. The original Clerks was an indie hit that made Smith into a household name, but he followed it up with Mallrats, a movie just as dumb and aimless as its protagonists. Chasing Amy and Dogma were both surprisingly excellent because, in each case, Smith had a deeply personal story he wanted to tell. But Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was an absolute war crime of failed comedy, which he followed with Jersey Girl, a big-budget film that absolutely bombed at the box office.

Clerks 2 returns us to Kevin Smith’s ViewAskewniverse and to the characters who originally made him famous. Still, fans were understandably skeptical: Clerks hardly needed a sequel, and by this point, Smith’s output as a filmmaker was decidedly mixed. Fortunately, Clerks 2 is a delightfully unhinged return to form for the bootstrap filmmaker, one filled with great performances and (yeah, I’ll say it) better jokes than the original. Throw in a plot about love, friendship, and growing up, and you have a raunchy sequel worth watching. Plus, it’s streaming for free on Tubi, leaving you with more spare cash to grab yourself some Mooby’s on the way home.

Just Put The Fries In The Bag, Bro

The basic plot of Clerks 2 is that, after the Quikstop convenience store from the first film burns down, Jersey boys Dante and Randall get a job at Mooby’s, a McDonald ‘s-esque fast food restaurant. Randall is content to flirt with teenage girls and dunk on his young, Christian coworker, but Dante dreams of bigger and better things. Fortunately, he’s now engaged to a woman whose wealthy family will help him build a new life in Florida. Unfortunately, he’s in love with his boss at Mooby’s, meaning that Dante will once again have to choose between two beautiful women who inexplicably fell for him at the same time. 

As with the first Clerks film, the plot of Clerks 2 is minimal at best. The movie is mostly an excuse for audiences to virtually hang out with our colorful characters while they make out-of-pocket jokes about everything from pop culture to sex. Randall gets the best jokes in the film, including a prolonged sequence where he makes fun of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which is something of a sacred cow among fantasy fans. His criticisms aren’t exactly fair, but when the jokes are this funny (you’ll, uh, never look at Sam and Frodo the same way again!), that hardly matters.

Something Old, Something New

In addition to Dante and Randall, Jay and Silent Bob make their triumphant return, selling drugs outside of Mooby’s the same way they once sold drugs outside the Quikstop. How much you enjoy their screentime depends entirely on how much you enjoy seeing these characters repeating their tried, vulgar schtick. None of the original Clerks actors were professionals, and while they are slightly better in Clerks 2, the movie is still almost entirely amateur hour. The notable exception is Rosario Dawson, a new addition to the cast who is a genuine switch-hitter when it comes to comedy. Whether she’s playing the straight woman or dropping her own nasty punchlines, Dawson is relentlessly funny in this role.

When Clerks 2 first came out, I mentally categorized it as a fun and funny film that shouldn’t really exist. To me, Clerks was a complete creative statement unto itself, and I could have gone my whole life without checking in with these characters again. Still, the film is filled with great jokes, a surprisingly killer soundtrack, and one gross-out moment after another. After all, how many movies have you seen where someone deals with a midlife crisis in the midst of a donkey show?

Let’s All Go To The Mooby’s

Having rewatched it many times, however, I’ve come to realize that Clerks 2 is almost shockingly effective as a sequel. The first Clerks movie isn’t actually about retail hell, of course: instead, it’s about young people drifting through life and trying to find something (whether that’s love in the arms of a beautiful woman or endless debates about Star Wars) that actually makes life worth living. The sequel checks in with these characters a decade later and asks, in Kevin Smith’s vulgar fashion, the same question Langston Hughes once famously asked: “What happens to a dream deferred?” In this case, neither protagonist ever found the meaning they so desperately needed.

For elder millennials like myself, this is a very poignant question. In the wake of the 2008 housing crash, many in my generation had their career ambitions dashed early. Suddenly, a college degree was no guarantee of landing a great job, and home ownership seemed like an increasingly impossible prospect. Just like that, the burger-flipping Dante and Randall weren’t figures of comic ineptitude; they were an honest reflection of the countless viewers who had to give up on making it big and settle for making it from day to depressing day.

I’m (Mostly) Loving It

Fortunately, Clerks 2 doesn’t let audiences mire in this existential dread. The characters do what so many had to do over the years: buckle down and find the fun hidden within the greasy wrappers of your McJob. In their misadventures (which range from a joyful dance sequence to a downright maudlin go-kart scene), our heroes discover that you don’t have to do great things to have a great life. Sometimes, all you need is your deranged best friend by your side. It’s a powerful (if overly saccharine) message, and one that proves Clerks 2 is far more than the sum of its d*ck and fart jokes.

Care to check in with your favorite pair of indie n’er do wells? Want to channel the bittersweet nostalgia of your own hellish fast food job, or maybe you just want some of Kevin Smith’s unique brand of stoner Gen X comedy? Well, you’re in luck: Clerks 2, the raunchiest sequel of all time, is now streaming for free on Tubi. By the time the credits roll, you might just need to tell your best friend how much you love them. Or maybe just ask your girlfriend about how long Pillow Pants is going to keep the two of you apart.