It takes a little bit of testicular fortitude to admit that I’ve long been a fan of Kevin Smith. I’m embarrassed not because I think his movies are bad, but because being a fan of a director with a cult following makes people give you a weird look and use hurtful words like “fanboy.” Yes, I’ve seen An Evening With Kevin Smith. Yes, I saw Jersey Girl in the theaters. Yes, I enjoy Mallrats. But I have not yet paid to belong to his online message board, which I think is the measure of a true fanboy and leaves me in the clear as a weirdo with the occasional questionable taste (ie, I kind of liked Jersey Girl).

Smith’s latest movie, Clerks II, is not for everybody, like most of his movies. Unlike Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, this movie is not inaccessible because of its stature as one long inside joke, but because it is so vulgar. Some donkey lovers and particularly P.C. citizens will probably do best to avoid this movie (and even this review) but to those of you who plan to stick around for my rave review of the View Askewniverse’s bookend ending, let me dissuade you that I am merely a fanboy in the throes of post-geeky film obsession: this film got an eight minute standing ovation. From the French. At Cannes. If there is anybody who knows good movies and how to be snotty about them, it is French people at the Cannes film festival. So I am not without my supporters. Keep that in mind.

The film opens a decade after the original Clerks. Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) are arriving for yet another day at the Quick Stop Convenience Store, only to find it burning to the ground. Fast forward to one year later, and the two of them are working at yet another menial job, serving fast food to customers at Mooby’s. The drug dealers Jay and Silent Bob, a staple of all of Smith’s movies save Jersey Girl, are still hanging outside while Randal and Dante complain about customers and wax philosophical inside.

Dante is engaged to the overbearing and much too chipper Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach, Smith’s wife) but is obviously in love with his boss, Becky (Rosario Dawson). It is his last day at Mooby’s, as he is moving to Florida in the morning, where Emma’s dad has promised him a job and a house. After 33 years, Dante has finally made plans to start a real life.

But, just like in the original Clerks, he has a really, really bad day at work. The film takes place completely in Mooby’s, with the exception of the beginning, the end, and a quick trip to a Go-Kart track. There are several celebrity cameos, but most are quick and painless, unlike scores of other films that linger on their cameos. A great scene involves Randal’s critique of the Lord of the Rings films (“It was just three movies of people walkin’”) during a debate with co-worker Elias (Trevor Fehrman) over whether Lord of the Rings of Star Wars is better. A dance sequence, a brilliant, risqué, and hilarious scene about racial slurs, a disturbing and funny-in-spite-of-itself scene involving a donkey – inspired by Bachelor Party but much more graphic – and much, much more that make this easily the funniest of Kevin Smith’s films.

Surprisingly, however, it is also the most genuinely heartfelt, something Smith has struggled with before. Where Jersey Girl tried for honesty, it came out hokey and trite. Where Chasing Amy accomplished honesty, it showed somewhat questionable personal politics. But in this film, despite the somewhat sub-par (but better than in Clerks) acting by O’Halloran and Anderson, Smith manages to make us feel for and love the characters. Dante may be a bit whiny, but he is relatable. Randal may be a bit of an ass, but still likable. It’s a frankly amazing balance of over-the-top personalities and real-world characterizations. Rosario Dawson’s infectious Becky also helps the film and its already-endearing nature, and the character of Elias, while more frequently a source of gags than of feeling, is even lovable in his own way.

Clerks II is not just about getting old, it is about friendship and love. While this may sound sappy, Jay and Silent Bob are always around to break up any scene that is threatened by its own seriousness. In the end, it is a more fitting ending to the series than Smith’s last attempt, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and a must-see for any aging Gen-Xer, or anyone who loved the spirit of the first movie.