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You'll be shocked to learn that Dante and Randal are still doing the exact same thing: standing around all day at their menial jobs, finding ways to avoid work, and talking.

But in revisiting the characters who made him an indie darling and a cult favorite, writer-director Smith finds himself back at the top of his game, especially after his most recent offerings, the self-indulgent "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" (2001) and the soft-hearted "Jersey Girl" (2004).

The sequel begins where the 1994 original left off: in grainy black-and-white at the suburban New Jersey Quick Stop where Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) have toiled away mindlessly all these years.

They end up at Mooby's, a sort of evil, Disneyfied fast-food chain where Rosario Dawson plays the impossibly cool, sexy manager, Becky, with whom Dante shares an unlikely chemistry.

Also joining the crew is virginal Elias (the endearingly jumpy Trevor Fehrman), a co-worker who's freakish even among Smith's usual misfits and comic-book geeks.

Elias finds himself drawn into some of the most protracted, heated discussions with Randal the instigator -- such as, which is better? "Star Wars" or "Lord of the Rings"? -- the kinds of debates that members of Smith's loyal fan base surely have had themselves in the comfort of their parents' basements.

Meanwhile, drug dealers Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Smith himself) stand outside the restaurant all day, just as they stood outside the convenience store.

There's a plot, too, such as it is. "Clerks II" unfolds during Dante's final day on the job before heading to Florida with his fiancee, the perky, blonde, controlling Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach, Smith's real-life wife).

Randal, who loves Dante in a totally hetero way, doubts that his best friend is truly happy with this woman; at the same time, Becky also hopes he'll stay for her own secret reasons.

Smith leaps brazenly into the abyss when he has Randal throw a going-away party for Dante at the restaurant, complete with... um... how to phrase this? There's a donkey, a stage, disco lights and a smoke machine.

'CLERKS II' Featuring:Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Trevor Fehrman, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, directed by Kevin Smith Where:Century Cinemas in Monterey, Century 14 and Maya Cinemas in Salinas, Green Valley in Watsonville Rating:R, for pervasive sexual and crude content including aberrant sexuality, strong language and some drug material Running time:1 hour, 45 minutes (Friday 7-21 release) By Robert W. Butler The Kansas City Star It's been 10 years since Kevin Smith burst upon the screen with the scabrous, made-on-a-shoestring comedy "Clerks" and was hailed as a fresh new face in cinema. He hasn't learned much since then. His movies still look crummy, as if they'd been shot with a pinhole camera. His humor still relies on sophomoric raunch and recurring characters who became tiresome the first time around. And while he has stretched thematically -- tackling Gen-X romance with "Chasing Amy" and Catholicism with "Dogma" -- his films are more overblown skits than real stories. His most grown-up film, "Jersey Girl," was so reviled by his fan base (figures... I liked it) that Smith hurriedly retreated to the tried and true. Thus we have "Clerks II," the further adventures of New Jersey slackers Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson). Our boys are older and jowlier, but not much has changed. They've graduated from a convenience store to slinging burgers at Mooby's, a fast-food chain whose signature meal is a multi-storied sandwich called the Cow Tipper. The goateed Dante, who has long regretted his dead-end life, is about to end it all. No, not suicide. He'll soon be marrying Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, the fimmaker's wife), a controlling woman who calls all the shots in their relationship and is taking her new hubby to Florida where Dante will work for her father. The wise-guy Randal, still maintaining a state of prolonged adolescence, rides his pal unmercifully for selling out but is busily planning a bachelor party that will feature Kinky Kelly and Her Donkey Show. Lingering outside the restaurant are a couple of other refugees from the first film: the obnoxiously hyperactive Jay (Jason Mewes) and his hulking partner Silent Bob (Smith). They peddle weed and play an obnoxiously loud boom box. So far, so drab. O'Halloran and Anderson display nothing like range, delivering one-note performances (and not very convincing notes at that), and Mewes and Smith cling to the same shtick they've delivered in all of Smith's films. There are also a couple of cameos by Smith regulars Ben Affleck and Jason Lee. The movie's strengths are to be found in a couple of new characters. Trevor Fehrman is a hoot as Elias, a dweeby Mooby's counterman who has no problem reconciling his family's born-again religion with his own mania for all things "Lord of the Rings." Naive and innocent, he's often the target of Randal's withering humor and sparks the film's best-written passage, a funny analysis of the battle for world domination between Tolkien geeks and "Star Wars" freaks. And then there's Becky (Rosario Dawson), the Mooby's manager. She shares with Dante and Randal a general disdain for fast-food work; more importantly, she and Dante are clearly soul mates. And when we learn that they have shared a one-time moment of passion on the kitchen's preparation table... well, it doesn't take doctorate in media studies to see that Dante is engaged to the wrong woman. It also helps that Dawson is a real actress. Smith introduces issues of aging and responsibility here, but they're undermined by the tastelessness of his humor. He's running on a creative treadmill, working up a sweat but getting nowhere.GO!

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