With the success of 1994’s profanely hilarious “Clerks”, Kevin Smith became the icon for a generation of nerd-chic couch potatoes. By insisting that he isn’t as talented as everyone thinks he is, Smith has built a name for himself as an anti-establishment, comic book worshipping slacker wunderkind. It may at times feel like a deliberate façade, but one look at Smith’s breezy, funny, and often-insightful films betray a verve and intelligence beneath the superficial surface.
Smith was born on August 2, 1970 in Red Bank, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Highlands where he attended Henry Hudson Regional High School. Smith’s Garden State roots have had a major influence on his career, as most of his films have been set in the state and have concerned its local color, or sometimes the lack thereof. Smith briefly attended the New School for Social Research for creative writing, but dropped out to attend the Vancouver Film School, inspired by Richard Linklater’s low-budget, low-tech hit “Slacker” and its indie-hip philosophy. He soon left after a short film project turned into an unexpected disaster, and returned to New Jersey where he again worked at a Quick Stop convenience store, the inspirational locale for his first film “Clerks”. Film school certainly wasn’t a waste for Smith, however: while there he met his future cinematographer David Klein and his future producer Scott Mosier.
“Clerks” was shot in black-and-white for a paltry $27,000, using local actors and settings including the convenience store where Smith worked during the day. The film premiered at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival, where it gradually built buzz before coming to the attention of Miramax exec Harvey Weinstein, who quickly nabbed the film for distribution. The film was a significant hit considering its budget, and earned stellar reviews from critics across the country, leading Smith to his next project “Mallrats”. Produced for Universal, the film performed dismally at the box office though it has slowly built a cult following in later years.
Despite the failure of “Mallrats”, Smith returned to top form with the third installment of his ‘New Jersey Trilogy’, 1997’s surprisingly soulful “Chasing Amy”, which remains his greatest critical success. His controversial 1999 follow-up, “Dogma”, is in retrospect more notable for the cultural uproar it caused than the film itself, which concerned two rebellious angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) trying to return to Heaven using a loophole in Catholic doctrine. Religious groups across the board protested the film, resulting in death threats against the Weinstein brothers before the film was even seen by the public.
Smith’s star has faded somewhat in the 2000s with the poorly received “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and “Jersey Girl”, though his latest film “Clerks II” has proven a triumphant return for the popular director. He has also become a successful comic book writer, most notably with his hugely popular 15-issue “Green Arrow” run for DC Comics. With the independent cinema world drastically changed since the days of “Clerks”, Smith’s cinematic survival will likely prove as interesting as his quick-witted characters.