The 4:30 Movie

It was really interesting just now to look over Kevin Smith's filmography, to see that I've liked his films even less than I already thought. From his first, the ever-popular Clerks from the year I graduated high school, I've never been able to connect with someone even I, on paper, should gel with. I don't recall ACTIVELY disliking any of his films, I just never got it, which was frustrating as I wanted to understand. I did like Zack and Miri Make A Porno quite a lot, but I don't think that's considered one of the "core" films in his resume. What's that you ask? You didn't even like Mallrats? Yes, even Mallrats, and I've tried quite a few times. Poor me.

While I haven't seen his recent, Clerks III, or Clerks II for that matter, The 4:30 Movie appealed to me for two reasons: a coming-of-age story, centered around movie geekdom. As an added bonus, it's a "nostalgic" viewpoint of the 1980s, and most likely autobiographical (sorry, I didn't do my research on this one!). My guess is that added personal touch is what made this more relatable and just more human for me. Generally Smith's films have had a weird feeling of distance to them, but I wasn't feeling that here.

I really liked the lead, and the rest of the cast overall. It was a good ensemble, and I felt the relationship between the lead and his former, and yet-again summer fling was the big stand-out here. It was really cute, and most importantly, completely believable, and charming. I was invested, and that's the key. There was a little bit of magic here to make this all work. So much so, it made me really enjoy a Kevin Smith film, both written and directed by!

It's not high brow cinema, mind you, either portrayed, or the film itself, but I think there's something here for every film buff to enjoy. Especially if you understand when I mention there is Turk 182 graffiti in one scene. If you pass that test, this is a no-brainer.