Kevin Smith is back on form.

And it's a form that has been a long time coming.

Check the record;

Clerks
Mallrats
Chasing Amy
Dogma
Jay and Silent Strike Back
Jersey Girl

Clerks was a cool movie, it was daring and had balls, just like it's writer/director.

Mallrats just doesn't work. On every level it simply does not work. But thats okay, we can forgive.

Chasing Amy has heart. It's good story about the conflict between the head and the heart.

Dogma, too juvenile by far. I mean, a shit monster? Give me a break.

Jay and Silent Bob - Smith tweaks the nose of the Hollywood institution he is now part of. The whole movie has the refreshing charm of a cheeky schoolboy .

Jersey Girl is sickly sweet with sentiment. You'll puke.

And now Clerks 2.

I loved this movie. It eptimoises what Smith does best.

He is not the greatest director in the world (he's not the worst either) but he is a genius at writing dialogue.

It's ten years later for the two main characters Dante and Randall.

There lives have moved on since working at the Quickstop convenience store that was the setting of the first movie.

Well, their lives haven't gone too far, the Quickstop burnt down and they now work at the local fast food joint.

The movie centre's around Dante's impending marriage even though he loves his boss played by Rosanne Dawson.

And Randall's fear of losing his best friend.

Dawson shines in the movie, giving her character a human vulnerability and a likeable quirkiness. When she's on screen,she lights it up like a beacon.

Jay and Silent Bob appear -as they should and are used as affectionate comic relief.

But the heart of the movie is Randall.

This hard faced, cynical fast talking bastard is faced with losing his best friend, the yang to his ying.

And he doesn't like it.

He mixes a sense of impending loss with anger and disapointment with his friend who is about to choose an easier existence but at the cost of his independence and perhaps his individuality.

Man, the scene in the jailhouse where Randall practically begs his friend not to leave him is very moving.

I think I had something in my eyes as I watched.

I like the character of Randall, I saw myself reflected in his cynicism and the barriers he surrounds himself with,lest somebody should get too close.

If this is our last visit to the Quickstop then it's a good way to say goodbye.

But I hope not.

I want to see how Dante handles fatherhood, I want to see how he handles married life and more than anything I want to see Randall fall in love and have his heart melted.

He needs it.

I know I did.