(:)(:)(:)(:)(:) for Clerks 2 on DVD

Five Snouts Up for Clerks 2 on DVD. Five snouts for Clerks 2???? You heard me. Faithful readers know I only give 5 snouts for the movies that I consider are in the top 100 movies of all times. This is one of the funniest movies I've ever ever seen. I almost died several times from stomach cramps and had to pause the film to wipe tears from my eyes.

This is not for the faint of heart. My mother and mother-in-law should not even consider watching this film. Nor should anyone who cannot appreciate the vilest possible things being discussed lightly and humorously. However, Vince Marchand should watch this film daily.

Rightly speaking, this is not a film for the ages. This is not something that should be put in a time capsule--it would convey terrifying images from our time.

But the thing is, this film is also not Dumb and Dumber. It's SOOOO not Hollywood fare. Director Kevin Smith spent 10 years making this and other films after the first Clerks film, which was a low budget indie sleeper hit. The budget for Clerks 2 appears to be roughly 100 times that of Clerks.

This is not your typical sequel. It's a stand alone movie about two losers in their 30's working at a burger joint after the convenience/video store they inhabited for 12 years burns down. Dante is sensitive, thoughtful and kind, Randal is ingeniously insensitive. Even without having witnessed it yourself, you can tell that the brutally funny, sexually explicit dialogue is acutely observed from the lives of white male losers in northern New Jersey (take a classic Seinfeld "master of my domain" conversation and crank it up to 11).

Low-key gorgeous and winning Rosario Dawson as the manager of the joint with genuine screen chemistry with Dante adds badly needed chick time to the ultimate dick flick.

If you do get the DVD and like the movie, don't miss the out-takes, especially the deleted scene between Dante and Randal on the road back from (centering, peaceful) go carts.

I fully admit in advance that my loving this film does not reflect well on me, but honestly, I don't remember ever laughing harder in my life.