Brian O'Halloran (left) and Jeff Anderson appear in a scene from "Clerks III."

It’s been nearly 30 years since writer/director Kevin Smith broke on the scene with the indie buddy comedy “Clerks.”

Smith now comes full circle with “Clerks III,” the final chapter in the saga that follows the escapades of a pair of slacker friends who work together at a convenience store in Leonardo, N.J. Fans of “Clerks” and Smith’s View Askewniverse will likely find enough to enjoy, but the end result is slightly underwhelming as the film struggles to find its footing amidst a sea of meta-ness.

“Clerks III” finds Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) now the owners of the Quick Stop and going through the mundane day-to-day grind of running the store. When Randal has a nearly fatal heart attack, it inspires him to finally do something with his life. His plan is to make a movie about his life at the Quick Stop.

Enlisting the help of Dante and others – including stoners Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) – Randal attempts to make his movie, much to the dismay of his longtime friend.

The plot line in a way mirrors Smith’s heart attack in 2018, with the characters exploring their legacies and mortality in the same way that Smith did following his own near-death experience. It’s just a starting point for a film that is very much an in-joke and evolves into a meta experience as Randal and Dante re-create iconic moments in the previous two movies for Randal’s “movie” here in the third chapter.

There is nothing wrong with making a movie that is clearly fan service. Smith proved more than capable of that with 2019’s “Jay and Silent Bob The Reboot” – the fun follow-up to “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” – but fans looking for the same kind of nostalgia in “Clerks III” will likely be disappointed as the meta stuff never works as well as it should.

It’s not all bad, though. There are some really inspired cameos, some nice throwbacks to the previous two films and a few genuinely funny set pieces. The laughs are not as frequent as the previous two films, though, with Smith sprinkling in a bit of reflective melancholy that causes the tonal structure to feel off at times. When “Clerks III” tries to be sincere and emotional, it feels forced and overly sentimental

It’s easy to see why Smith loves these characters, but it’s hard to have the emotional investment Smith is aiming for in a film peppered with a lot of rather juvenile humor (some of it providing the film’s best moments).

The film definitely feels like a swan song for this story. It’s too bad the send-off couldn’t have been a little sharper. Dante, Randal and the rest of the crew certainly deserved a better goodbye than “Clerks III.”

Starring: Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson

Directed by: Kevin Smith

Rating: R for pervasive language, crude sexual material, and drug content

Playing at: Regal Bowling Green Stadium 12 (opens Tuesday for a limited theatrical run)

Grade: C