Clerks II: Still slacking - page 2

23-09-2006 09:31

"So this is the first film where I didn't have to clean him up or worry about him. His performance is so much stronger for it too.

Smith says he tried everything to get Mewes straight - but nothing seemed to work.

He revealed: "I tried for seven years to get him to clean up and we tried everything from taking him to rehab to just flat out sitting on him for weeks at a time, babysitting him, watching his every move. None of that worked though and basically he just woke up one day and decided to get clean and stay clean.

"Some people have been telling me what a great thing I did by sticking by him but what else was I going to do? He's my friend."

The battle has paid off with Smith even claiming 'Clerks II' - which is every bit as innovative as the original - is his best work yet.

He confirmed: "I used to say that 'Chasing Amy' was my finest hour but I think now it's this film. I kind of regard my decision to do it as one of my top five good decisions of all time.

"Most critics are on my side too - they've been giving it four or five stars out of five. I was delighted with the critics' responses."

However, Kevin hopes that moviegoers won't try and compare the sequel to the much-loved original.

He confessed: "There is always that danger but to be honest I don't think there's anything to compare. 'Clerks' was completely brand new and no-one had ever seen anything like it before but the genie is out of the bottle now.

"When we announced the film online there were a few people who thought it was a stupid idea and that it would f***ing suck, but when they've seen it they have turned their view around and liked it. I think they were just worried that we wouldn't do the characters justice and that we'd just rehash the same old jokes.

"As a movie I think 'Clerks II' stands well alongside the first."

Another key element of Kevin's 'Clerks' universe that stayed at the heart of the sequel is the creative swearing. In fact, if there was an Oscar for cussing, he'd walk away with it hands down.

And he's so proud of his brilliantly blue mouth, that Kevin is even getting his seven-year-old daughter, Harley Quinn, in on the act.

He revealed: "I'm already teaching her to curse because if she learns to does it well she can make a good living out of it.

"My wife and I won't really watch what we say around her. The first words she picked up at three-years-old were s**t and bulls**t. She quickly stopped it when I told her what s**t meant, that it meant poop. She was like, 'Ew!'"

Kevin added: "I'm not one of those people who says, 'I don't want my kid to see my movies until she's 30 because they're full of cursing.'

"The bad language just washes over her. She doesn't know what a c**k-smoker is."

Whether you're already a fan of his work or not, it's impossible to deny that Kevin Smith makes some of the most interesting and entertaining films to come out of Hollywood. 'Clerks II' is not only a worthy sequel to the original film, but it is one of the most refreshing films of the year and one of the finest of his career. A classic.