The Best Rosario Dawson Movie Is One Where She Outshines Everyone
Rosario Dawson might be well known for her role in Sin City, and more recently as Ahsoka Tano, but her best movie is one in which she outduels everyone in terms of humor.
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Rosario Dawson is truly a beloved actor. She has appeared in all manner of film, television, and video games. Her more recent foray into the pop culture world was that of portraying Ahsoka Tano in The Mandalorian. A role that fans were all teeming with excitement about. Her small appearance has led to a spin-off series and a movie being developed about Ahsoka. However, her career started long ago in 1995 with the movie, Kids. This begs the question about what her best film is considering she has been in the acting game for nearly 30 years. For this writer, her role in the View Askew universe is where she shines the best. View Askew is a production company owned by famed producer, director, and writer Kevin Smith. Dawson played perfectly into the foul-mouthed role of Becky in Clerks II.
Quite honestly, anything that involves Rosario Dawson is a home run effort. She’s just amazing in all that she does. However, her ability to just appear in a Kevin Smith film, almost as if she had been there with Jay and Silent Bob in the 90s, was perfect. Dawson took on the role of Becky in Clerks II, and she honestly outshined everyone in that film. Whereas the normal focus is that of Dante and Randall going through the ups and downs of being employees of some lowbrow job, or Jay and Silent Bob’s antics being highlighted throughout the film, Becky was the one who stole the show. Her foul mouth even rivaled that of Jay’s character. Her crude yet level-headed character was the type that felt almost too natural in that universe. That is in no way a bad thing at all.
Clerks II is the sequel to the highly-revered Clerks, which came out in 1994. The story follows best friends Dante and Randall as they deal with the facts of being convenience store clerks. The initial film started the career of writer/director Kevin Smith after it was shown at Sundance Festival. While it took nearly 10 years for the man to return to the story, Clerks II contained much more heart than the first film had. That could very well be because Smith is writing these films and loosely basing them on his actual life. In Clerks II, Dante and Randall are shown at a much older age, literally and figuratively. The beginning of the film shows their original job, Quik Stop, burning down. The men then find themselves as fast-food workers for Mooby’s, a fictional restaurant that is essentially making fun of McDonald’s. Becky is the manager of Mooby’s and the love interest of Dante, who is partnered with another woman who plans to take him out of his hellish life as a fast-food worker. However, Becky (Rosario Dawson) and Dante realize their feelings for one another through hilarious and grotesque happenings and essentially live a happily-ever-after type of existence at the end of the film. It’s quite romantic, albeit with some crude material backing the romance.
Rosario Dawson is meant to take after Kevin Smith’s real-life wife, who is in the film as well. Dawson placates the crude humor but brings a certain elegance to the strong sexual themes which Smith delivers in every film. She was so well-loved by Smith and audiences, he brought her back in a role for the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. Also, she is set to reprise her role as Becky in the final Clerks III story, which has already been completed. Kevin Smith has always made films his way, and that has cultivated itself into a huge cult following. Bringing on Rosario Dawson and her performance was enough to solidify her legend among fans of Smith’s movies.
Clerks II currently only has a 63% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but the 84% audience rating is clearly much higher. With a budget of $5 million, the film grossed well over $26 million in worldwide box office numbers. Again, these films may not seem like a massive success or critically acclaimed, but they always bring in droves of fans who hold their allegiances with Smith’s whole catalog.
Clerks II is one of the rare times in which Kevin Smith brought in a more high-profile actor. Apart from Ben Affleck constantly appearing. However, Rosario Dawson showed why she belongs in his universe, and why she shines in anything she does. Dawson is hilarious, elegant, rough, and romantic all in one. While fans might lean into other films in which she has been a star, she belongs the most in a world where she can be elegant and offensive in both the same light.