Kevin Smith has just secured a distribution deal for his next film, The 4:30 Movie, which is taking him back to his comedy roots with a New Jersey-set hangout story similar to Clerks and Mallrats. Set in the summer of 1986, The 4:30 Movie sees three 16-year-old friends – played by Austin Zajur, Nicholas Cirillo, and Reed Northrup – sneaking into various movies at their local theater over the course of a laidback Saturday. The conflict of the story involves one of these friends inviting the girl he likes, played by Siena Agudong, to join them.
This is Smith’s first film since 2022’s Clerks III, which concluded the Clerks trilogy in surprisingly heartbreaking fashion. Ending the Clerks saga was a full-circle moment for Smith as it marked the end of an era with a definitive bookend on the story he began telling with his very first movie. Ever since he started distancing himself from the interconnected View Askewniverse he kickstarted with Clerks, Smith has experimented outside his comfort zone with projects like the director-for-hire job Cop Out and the horror films Red State and Tusk. With The 4:30 Movie, Smith is going back to his roots.
Kevin Smith’s 4:30 Movie Marks The Perfect Return To His Comedy Roots
The 4:30 Movie has a lot more in common with Clerks than Tusk
With his last few movies, Smith has either dabbled in the horror genre, with Yoga Hosers and KillRoy Was Here, or returned to his most iconic characters, with Clerks III and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. He hasn’t made an original straightforward comedy since 2008’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno, whose box office failure spurred on his genre experimentation in the first place. The 4:30 Movie is taking Smith back to his comedy roots for another fun hangout caper akin to his first two feature films, Clerks and Mallrats.
The fact that The 4:30 Movie is set in a movie theater in the ‘80s gives Smith plenty of ripe joke areas to explore. His humor often revolves around references to movies and the pop culture of the ‘80s – like the Star Wars vs. Lord of the Rings debate in Clerks II or the theological mockery of Home Alone in Dogma – so The 4:30 Movie is the perfect premise for Smith’s brand of comedy. His gags also tend to be crass and juvenile in nature, and the teenage protagonists of The 4:30 Movie will lend themselves to that comedic style.
The 4:30 Movie Is A Hangout Comedy Set On One Day Like Clerks & Mallrats
The 4:30 Movie harks back to the Clerks/Mallrats formula
Based on the brief synopsis provided by Smith – along with the first images from The 4:30 Movie – The 4:30 Movie will take place entirely across a single day. The teenage protagonists will spend the whole movie sneaking in and out of different showings at their local multiplex as they learn lessons about life and love along the way. There won’t be a plot per se, with external conflicts that the protagonists have to resolve; it’ll be more of a hangout movie, like Dazed and Confused, focusing more on the characters and their relationships than their surroundings.
This is the same formula that worked beautifully in Smith’s debut feature, Clerks, and his follow-up sophomore effort, Mallrats. Clerks follows a day in the life of convenience store employee Dante as he comes in for a shift at the Quick Stop on his day off – when he’s not even supposed to be there – and chronicles the ups and downs of his friendship with his co-worker Randal and his relationship with his girlfriend Veronica. Mallrats similarly takes place across one day as slackers Brodie and T.S. retreat to the mall after being dumped by their girlfriends.
The 4:30 Movie is continuing in this spirit, switching out the convenience store and shopping mall settings for a local movie theater. These hangout movie premises put the emphasis on what is arguably Smith’s greatest strength as a filmmaker: his loose, conversational dialogue. In some ways, The 4:30 Movie is even more of a spiritual successor to Clerks and Mallrats than Smith’s third movie, Chasing Amy, which takes place across a much longer timeline and focuses more on its dramatic elements.
Kevin Smith’s New Movie Brings Him Back To New Jersey
Smith is back on his home turf
Smith famously hails from New Jersey and all his early View Askewniverse films took place in New Jersey. Clerks is set in Leonardo. Dogma is set in Red Bank. Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Jersey Girl all take place in New Jersey. However, as Smith’s career went on, he expanded the geography of his films to other parts of the world. Both Jay and Silent Bob movies see the stoner duo embarking on a journey to Hollywood to sabotage a film based on their lives.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno is set in a suburb of Pittsburgh. Cop Out takes place in New York City. Red State is set in a vaguely conservative area in Middle America. Tusk and Yoga Hosers both take place in Canada. It’s been interesting to see Smith expand his cinematic reach to other locales, but New Jersey is his home turf. The 4:30 Movie has taken Smith back to his home turf. It was shot in Smith’s own movie theater, Smodcastle Cinemas, in Atlantic Highlands.
4:30 Could Become Kevin Smith’s Best Film Yet
The 4:30 Movie could be the perfect blend of Smith’s hard-R raunch and sweet sentimentality
There’s a school of thought that Smith has never topped his first movie, Clerks, as his greatest film. But The 4:30 Movie has a chance to usurp Clerks and seize the throne of best Kevin Smith movie. The thing that connects all of Smith’s best movies – from Clerks to Chasing Amy to Zack and Miri Make a Porno – is his unique blend of profane, hard-R raunch and genuinely earnest emotions. Zack and Miri Make a Porno is all about an amateur X-rated production, with a boatload of sexual and scatological gags, but it’s also a surprisingly moving love story.
The 4:30 Movie is a coming-of-age story that will simultaneously show a group of teenage boys killing time at the weekend and one of those teenagers experiencing love for the first time. The conversations between these teenage friends will provide the juvenile laughs that Smith’s fans have come to expect, while the romantic storyline will provide the heartfelt feels that are just as essential to his filmmaking style. With its combination of teen banter and young love, The 4:30 Movie has the potential to be the greatest Kevin Smith movie yet.
