Clerks III Trailer Breakdown: They're Getting Too Old For This Shift

The opening shot takes us back to the RST Video shop that was next to the Quick Stop, but it's now apparently become RST THC. Recreational cannabis use was legalized in New Jersey, which means maybe Jay and Silent Bob no longer have to peddle their wares on the sidewalk. Could the boys have finally gone legit and opened a dispensary? Just imagine walking into a dispensary and getting a lecture on Morris Day and the Time from a guy that looks like a surfer from 1992. That sounds magical to me. There are a few fun little Easter eggs here, too, like the Nails Vape Pen sign, referencing Nails cigarettes in "Clerks," and an ad for Chewlie's gum, which notoriously sent an anti-smoking agent to the Quick Stop in "Clerks" to convince people to buy more gum. 

Randal seems to be having some trouble breathing, and when he comments on it to Elias (Trevor Ferhman), who now works at the Quick Stop with them after most likely being fired by Mooby's following the events of "Clerks II," Elias offers to do "mouth stuff." That's a pretty massive change from a guy who used to believe he couldn't kiss his girlfriend because of the mouth troll "Listerfiend," so it will be interesting to see who Elias has become with Randal and Dante as friends and role models. Randal collapses and Dante ends up running out of the back room, calling 911. 

Smith took some of "Clerks III" from his own life, and Randal's heart attack mirrors the "widowmaker" heart attack Smith suffered onstage in 2018. Dante is thrilled that his best friend is still kicking, but Randal's realized that he wants to have something to live for, a life worth waking up to. He complains about the repetition in their lives and watching the same old movies, and Dante points out that he always thought Randal would have made a great movie. 

Elias asks Dante what Randal's movie is going to be about, and Dante says, "It's about him, working here." Elias, dressed in a shirt with a demon that says "Forked Tongue" and accompanied by a friend in an upside-down cross t-shirt, has clearly gone full goth. For the record, I'm into it. He says that Randal making the movie about himself and working as a clerk is "meta," but it's also meta because Smith made the first "Clerks" about working as a clerk while he was also working at the Quick Stop. In a way, it's meta about being meta. 

The next clip is a casting call for Randal's movie, which is exciting because the casting call sequence in Smith's under-loved "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" is pure joy. There will probably be quite a few weird line deliveries and some awkward special talents people show in order to get attention, but it should all be wildly funny. Elias' hand gesture combined with those insane boots is pure perfection, also. Clearly Elias has become an artiste. 

When told that Jay and Silent Bob could be in his movie, Randal gives the perfect reply, "Jay and Silent Bob are like C-3PO and R2-D2. They've been here since the first movie, which was the last time they were cool, but they've been with the franchise so long they still give 'em cameos and put them on the lunchboxes." 

Jay and Bob, for their part, don't seem to mind, strolling around the corner with what looks like branded blunt wraps or vapes and a whole lot of swagger. Jay manages to throw in a "snootchie bootchies" for good measure. 

Randal's movie, "INConvenience," is in black and white, just like the original "Clerks," and we see Jay holding a slate before one of their scenes. Silent Bob is apparently the camera operator, and there are some tiny fun jokes hidden on both the slate and in the background, including Mooby's cereal and Canadian Cheerios, called Cheeri-EH's with a maple leaf instead of a heart on the box. It looks like Randal is recreating the "salsa shark" moment from "Clerks," where he moves a tortilla chip around in a jar of salsa while singing the "Jaws" theme. Dante is lying on the freezer behind Jay, looking positively perturbed at being there on his day off, even without his face appearing. 

Jay and Bob dance with some folks dressed in Mooby's uniforms with someone in a Mooby costume. It's probably a sequence from Randal's movie where he's recreating some of the chaos from "Clerks II," but with Smith, who knows? There's also a quick throwback reference to Randal's jokes about contractors on the Death Star, and he tells Dante that he doesn't want to be sued by Disney. 

There are a couple of quick shots of silliness in the hospital, including someone dressed like a witch visiting Randal, ad an order from Kevin Smith regular Justin Long in scrubs saying, "Take off your pants!" Then we have Jay running down the hallway like a madman. The whole thing is set to Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy," a huge hit from 1999, and it feels at once fresh and like old times. 

Randal's response to Dante's worries about sequels is perfection, selling the meta comedy of it all and letting us know that Smith's laughing at himself, too. Randal retorts, "A sequel? What am I, a hack?" and the camera cuts directly to Smith as Silent Bob, who closes his eyes and points in agreement at Randal. There's a lot of other weirdness going on there, including Elias dressed like Adam Ant, but it's great to know that Smith isn't taking any of this too seriously. Irreverence has always been at the heart of his humor, and it's good that he can still make fun of himself as much as everything else. There's also still going to be some silly stoner humor, because there's a tiny post-title shot of Jay and Bob with the world's biggest joint, and Jay thinks it "needs more weed." That's... honestly impressive. 

This trailer looks incredible, and "Clerks III" can't get here soon enough. "Clerks III" is set to hit theaters on September 13 and September 15 this fall as a Fathom Events screening.