Smith strikes back

When Kevin Smith misfires, he misfires big. When he hits his target, be prepared to laugh your silly ass off. With many of his fans still left with the sour taste of "Jersey Girl" and about half of "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" in their mouths, Smith returns to his roots with a sequel to the film that made him famous. Thankfully, "Clerks II" is an exercise in Smith firing on all cylinders in terms of both his writing and his direction of physical comedy. It's also his best movie since the original "Clerks."\nAfter a disastrous fire at the Quick Stop, Dante and Randal are now employed at Mooby's, and joining them are sexy manager Becky (a never-hotter Rosario Dawson) and uber-Christian Transformers fanboy Elias (hilarious newcomer Trevor Fehrman). Hanging around outside, as always, are Jay and Silent Bob, who are afforded many of the film's best gags. Until you've seen Jason Mewes strutting his stuff to Q Lazzarus' "Goodbye Horses," you've not lived.\nThe real star of "Clerks II" is, appropriately, the dialogue. As crass and wildly profane as it is, this could well be the best screenplay Smith has written. Superstar cameos, a Tijuana donkey show and even a choreographed dance sequence to the Jackson 5 all whizz by for our amusement, but none feel quite as true as the extended, eloquent conversations about everything from the merits of the Lord of the Rings films vs. the Star Wars saga to an extended exchange about racial slurs that goes on far too long to be benign, but left me stunned in its wake after five solid minutes of gut-bursting laughs.\nTrevor Fehrman shines as Elias, a sheltered 19-year-old goofball whose mind is ripe for Randal to poison. One of the film's best scenes finds Elias telling a tale of terror about a troll that he's been told resides in his girlfriend's nether-regions, complete with music from "The Shining." It's irreverent, slightly disturbing moments like this that abound in "Clerks II," and every one feels fresh and wholly original. \nLike in all Smith movies, some things just don't work. The casting of Smith's real-life wife as Dante's fiancee is regrettable, and a completely unironic trip to the local Go Kart track proves a litte too twee for comfort. Sadly, O'Halloran and Anderson still can't act their way out of a Mooby's sack, but these are only minor quibbles with a movie that will have most people rolling. \nThere's the love story involving Dante and his fiancee, and another one involving Dante and Becky, but the real love story is that of Dante and Randal (not in a gay way, as they so frequently swear). Smith injects a shot of tenderness into the film's concluding scenes that feels amazingly genuine. It's the perfect conclusion to Dante and Randal's story, and it's the only time a Kevin Smith film has ever rendered me misty-eyed.