Image: tmdb
About This Quiz
This shoestring-budget movie summed up the slacker angst of a generation -- and nearly got itself saddled with an NC-17 rating! How much do you remember about "Clerks?" Find out with our (mostly PG-rated) quiz!
"Clerks" was the debut effort of which director?
Darren Aronofsky
Richard Linklater
Kevin Smith
Smith went to great efforts to fund his first film. This included selling off his extensive comic book collection and using the proceeds of an insurance settlement from a car destroyed in a flood.
Alan Smithee
Why did the movie originally earn an NC-17 rating?
language
It's very rare for a movie to earn an NC-17 for language alone, but if you've seen "Clerks," you'll probably understand. Even so, the movie was released without cuts thanks to an appeal.
nudity
sexual content
violence
Who intervened on Miramax's behalf with the MPAA, getting the rating down to "R"?
Alan Dershowitz
Dershowitz made the case for releasing "Clerks" as-is with a R rating, presumably on free-speech grounds. This might be somewhat ironic, given the role that X-rated movies play in the film.
Gloria Allred
Martin Scorsese
Quentin Tarantino
Advertisement
In what state is "Clerks" set?
California
Michigan
New Jersey
Kevin Smith is a proud Jersey resident. Most of his interconnected films are set there.
New York
In the movie's opening scene, Dante falls out of what?
bed
his car
his closet
Dante is awoken by the phone ringing and falls out of his closet. Why he was in there is never explained -- perhaps too much partying the night before.
the shower
What is the name of the convenience store where Dante works?
the Gas-N-Sip
the 6-10
the Quick Stop
The Quick Stop was a real store in Leonardo, New Jersey. For this reason, Smith was only allowed to film at night, when the place was closed.
the Come-N-Go
Advertisement
What sport does Dante play recreationally?
basketball
baseball
hockey
Dante tells his boss that he has a hockey game at 2 p.m., so needs to be off by then. Will he be? Of course not.
rugby
When does the Quick Stop owner promise to be in by?
11 a.m.
noon
Dante doesn't want to go in, since it's his day off. He makes the owner "swear" that he'll be at the Quick Stop by noon.
2 p.m.
he doesn't promise
Where has the store owner actually gone?
Utica, for a convention
Niagara Falls, to get married
New York City, to watch baseball
Vermont, for unknown reasons
Dante is irate after learning that the store owner has gone to Vermont. This means he never had any intention of relieving Dante at work.
Advertisement
Why can't Dante raise the shutters on the front window?
the window underneath is broken
he doesn't have the key to the locks
someone jammed gum in the locks
"Bunch of savages in this state, I tell you," is Dante's conclusion. His solution is to hang a sheet over the shutters reading "I assure you, we're open."
it's an insurance risk
What kind of pet hangs out at the Quick Stop?
a black cat
We can't think how Smith missed out on having a foul-mouthed parrot be a part of the action. Maybe a trained bird was too hard to acquire on a tight budget and shooting schedule.
a Chihuahua
a profane parrot
a tame rat
Where does Dante's friend Randal work?
a gas station
a bar
a video store
Randal works at the video store right across from the Quick Stop. He treats the customers badly, and at least once pretends to "blackball" a customer who's sworn never to shop there again.
he is unemployed
Advertisement
What is Dante's girlfriend's name?
Amy
Stacey
Tara
Veronica
Veronica Loughran is a devoted girlfriend who brings Dante lunch and encourages him to go back to school. This doesn't stop him from pining for his old girlfriend, though.
What is Dante's ex-girlfriend's name?
Ann
Caitlin
Dante is completely hung up on Caitlin Bree. She's at college, but they've been having late-night phone calls that make Dante believe a reconciliation is possible.
Marie
Jenna
Caitlin's fiance is majoring in what?
business
design
Throughout the movie, people refer to Caitlin's upcoming marriage to "an Asian design major." So it's possible he's majoring in Asian design, not just design. He is Chinese-American -- his name is Sang -- but being Asian doesn't preclude him from majoring in "Asian design." As these characters will say once Facebook comes along ... it's complicated.
psychology
computer science
Advertisement
Who does the anti-smoking guy work for?
Chewlie's Gum
After buying a cup of coffee, the man hangs around to dissuade people from buying cigarettes. He encourages them to try Chewlie's Gum instead. To help him in his work, he carries around a model of a diseased lung and a "trach ring," or an implant that smokers get when cancer destroys their voice box. Gross!
a smoking-cessation counselor
a local personal-injury lawyer
the World Health Organization
How does Veronica disperse the anti-smoking mob?
spraying them with the fire extinguisher
The Chewlie's Gum representative gets the shoppers so riled up that they start pelting Dante with cigarettes. Then Veronica, Dante's devoted and practical girlfriend, breaks things up and outs the anti-smoking guy as a chewing-gum salesman.
spraying them with diet cola
threatening to call the police
yelling at them
What does Veronica bring Dante for lunch?
a burger and fries
lasagna
Veronica kids that she brought him "peanut-butter and jelly with the crusts cut off," but it's actually lasagna. She's a keeper!
peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches
pizza
Advertisement
Why does Dante call the newspaper?
the day's stock of newspapers never arrived
he wants a job delivering papers
the store hours are wrong in their ad
he wants to believe Caitlin's engagement announcement is a "misprint"
Dante wants to believe that a "typographical mistake" has led to the listing. That failing, he suggests that maybe a typesetter planted the item as revenge, say, for Caitlin refusing to go out with him. The person at the Asbury Park Press eventually hangs up on Dante.
What bothers Randal about "Return of the Jedi"?
the cuddly Ewoks
Mark Hamill's haircut
not enough banter between Han Solo and Chewbacca
his assumption that innocent construction workers were killed on the Death Star
Randal's reasoning goes like this: The new Death Star was still under construction when the rebels destroyed it. Therefore, the people who were on board were just hired contractors and workers who didn't fundamentally support the Empire's goals nor deserve to die.
Where do Dante and his friends end up playing hockey?
at a city rink
in the parking lot
on the roof of the Quick Stop
Dante closes up the Quick Stop and plays with his friends on the roof. This annoys a customer, who climbs up to the roof to yell at him and then insults his hockey skills.
inside the Quick Stop
Advertisement
How long does the hockey game last?
ten minutes
12 minutes
The customer who climbed up to the roof joins the game, and he hits the ball off into the distance and down a sewer grate. This was the only ball the teams had, thus ending the game.
30 minutes
45 minutes
What happens (or happened) to Julie Dwyer in the movie?
she asks Randal out
she graduates college
she joins the Peace Corps
she dies
Julie was one of Dante's ex-girlfriends. She died of a sudden brain event while swimming at the YMCA. "In mid-backstroke," Randal says.
What does Randal do at Julie's wake?
insults the funeral-home director
hits on Julie's mother
knocks over the casket
Randal outrages everyone by leaning on Julie's casket and tipping it over. He defends himself by saying it's not like she can get injured at this point.
steals flowers
Advertisement
Why is Dante fined $500?
using obscene language in front of minors
playing sports on a rooftop
illegal parking outside the funeral home
selling cigarettes to a child
It was Randal, covering for Dante, who did this. Which raises the question: Why is a 4-year-old buying cigarettes anyway? The tobacco industry tries to start 'em early, sure, but THAT early?
What kind of customer annoys Dante?
"cat scratchers"
"chatty Cathys"
"milkmaids"
"Milkmaids" are his term for women who inspect every gallon of milk, trying to find an expiration date later than the rest. Hey, it's better than the guys who try to find the "perfect dozen" eggs.
"exact change freaks"
Who put the engagement announcement in the newspaper?
Caitlin's mother
Caitlin never agreed to marry Sang, just to think about it. But Sang insisted that Caitlin wear his ring while she considered the proposal, and then Caitlin's mother jumped the gun.
Sang
Randal
a disgruntled printer Caitlin wouldn't date
Advertisement
What happens when Caitlin goes into the unlighted bathroom?
she trips and breaks her wrist
she puts on her lipstick really askew
she has sex with Randal
she has sex with a corpse
Caitlin comes out quite happy, thinking it was Dante in the bathroom and he let her "do everything." In fact, it was an old man who'd asked to use the bathroom earlier and had taken a pornographic magazine in with him.
Who tells Veronica that Dante is going out with Caitlin again?
Caitlin
Dante
Jay
Randal
Randal thought that he was doing Dante a favor. More specifically, he thought that Dante would never have the courage to tell Veronica himself. Unfortunately, Dante had already decided that going back to Caitlin is a mistake.
Who has a fist fight at the movie's end?
Caitlin and Veronica
Dante and Randal
Dante gets fed up with Randal criticizing him and pushing him to change his life -- and most of all, for Randal telling Veronica that Dante was about to cheat on her. They have a brawl that wrecks part of the Quick Stop, but their friendship remains intact.
Dante and the store owner
Jay and Silent Bob
Advertisement
What happens in the film's alternate ending?
Veronica forgives Dante
Dante and Caitlin run away together
Randal wins the lottery
Dante is shot and killed
Kevin Smith has said that the shocking ending came about because he didn't know how to end the film. He took the advice of several friends/mentors and went with the low-key goodbyes between Dante and Randal instead.
Which of these does Silent Bob not do in "Clerks"?
dance
drive
Despite his name, Silent Bob *does* talk in "Clerks." Toward the end, he advises Dante that most women don't bring their men lasagna at work. "Most just cheat on you."
smoke
talk
Who played the store owner?
Bryan Cranston
Walt Flanagan
Walter Mosier
no one
Walt Flanagan, a childhood friend of Smith's, played several minor roles in "Clerks." But no one stepped into the shoes of the Quick Stop owner, who never appears in the film.
Advertisement
How many times does Dante close up the Quick Stop during business hours?
zero
one
two
Dante closes up briefly to play hockey on the roof. The second closure comes when he decides to go to Julie Dwyer's wake and Randal won't cover for him. (If it were us, we would have closed up for the day at noon when the boss didn't show up, but that's just us.)
three
What is known as the film's "lost scene?"
Caitlin in the unlighted bathroom
Dante being killed by a robber
Randal knocking over Julie Dwyer's casket
This scene proved too prohibitive to shoot on a $27,000 budget. An animated version of it is included in the tenth anniversary DVD.
Randal dancing with Jay and Silent Bob
You Got:
/35
tmdb