Generazione X

After being dumped by their girlfriends, T.S. Quint(Jeremy London) and Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee) go to the mall to keep their minds off the situation. Soon, however, thoughts turn to getting their ladies back and the dynamic duo will have to fight mall security, a fashionable male (Ben Affleck) and a game show producer (Michael Rooker) in order to succeed.

Writing a fair review of "Mallrats" is one of the hardest things for me to do, and it is no surprise that I have not done so in all the years I have been writing reviews. The film came out when I was fourteen, and I went to see it with my cousin at the local mall after a rousing bus trip. We had seen the ambiguous advertisements in the back of comic books for months and just knew this was something we had to see. Once in the theater, we were practically alone -- there were only three other people, including a younger woman and her grandmother, both of whom walked out early on.

For whatever reason, I identified with this film. I had not yet seen "Clerks" and I did not have the background in film to really understand all the references to "Jaws" or "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" or "Apocalypse Now". But the potty humor mixed with the intelligent dialogue (even about scatological topics) hit home with me, and even now -- seventeen years later -- it remains my favorite film, despite my knowing full well it is not critically wonderful and often sexually crude.

I have given the film a high rating because I simply cannot get enough of it. I have the trading cards that were sold at the time, I have visited the Eden Prairie Center where the movie was filmed (it is in Minnesota, not New jersey, strangely enough). But, I want to stress this: my high rating does not by any means indicate this is a critically beautiful film. Read the reviews of the professionals at the time (Ebert, Maltin, and others) and you will see that it was more or less expected to bomb (although I think in hindsight many more people found the film to their liking).

Are there flaws? You bet. Watch Jeremy London, for example. A horrible, horrible actor. Even with these odd, scripted conversations he comes off as forced, and if you watch him while another actor is speaking, you can see him physically preparing himself to speak his lines. He cannot become the character of T.S. Quint, he can only be Jeremy London. Shannon Doherty, likewise, just does not seem to hack it... she is a better actress than many, but this film just did not work for her. She comes off as a reject from "Empire Records", and some lines she delivers make it seem she is not familiar with the subject matter.

Despite the flaws, I am still praising this film. Watch "Clerks" first (even though this one takes place first in chronological order). If you like "Clerks", try this one. Then try "Chasing Amy". All three are great. Personally, I think Kevin Smith's films went downhill after that (although "Red State" is redeeming). He may disagree and I know many of the fans do. But if you do not mind intelligent potty humor, "Mallrats" is for you.

This is Kevin Smith's first `real' movie, i.e., one made with a real budget, real actors, and backed by a real studio. It was also a commercial and critical flop, most reviewers seem to regard it as his worst movie. That is understandable, seeing as he set such high expectations with `Clerks', a work of pure genius that was made on a budget so low that Smith was forced to use black & white film. `Clerks' is one of my all time favorite films, a classic that will probably still be popular many years from now, and so, by comparison, `Mallrats' simply doesn't measure up. But so what? It's still a great comedy, with lots of moments that make you want to split a gut, and is, IMHO, better than at least 90% of the other teenage/young adult movies out there.

The story (as with most comedies) is pretty basic. It's about a day in the life of two slackers who both get dumped by their girlfriends that morning. They then spend the rest of the day hanging around the mall (in an ironic touch, the mall in question, while supposedly set in New Jersey, is actually about five miles from where I live, in the Minneapolis suburb Eden Prairie) trying to figure out how to win back their girls. Along the way they encounter Kevin Smith's trademark ensemble of oddball characters, most notably Jay & Silent Bob who give what I think are their funniest movie performances. Kevin Smith continues themes established in `Clerks' (and repeated in his following movies) namely, homages to Star Wars, Jaws, and hockey and throws in some new ones, most notably, comics and video games. As in `Clerks', nothing much really happens, the two, as the tagline puts it, aren't at the mall to work or to shop, they're just there. Well, not entirely. Amid their random meanderings and encounters with other Kevin Smith favorites like Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams there is an actual plot, namely, one of the guys is scheming to wreck a TV game show to be broadcast live at the mall later that day and he enlists Jay and Silent Bob to do the dirty deed. Why? Well, it's too complicated to explain in a brief review, but the payoff is hilarious. Whatever else one thinks of this movie, it has to be about the best send up of game shows ever as the dynamic duo infiltrate a Dating Game rip-off and turn the whole thing into a circus. The final 20 minutes or so of this movie is simply some of the funniest stuff you'll see anywhere.

What about the rest? Mostly it's pretty good, although Kevin Smith's penchant for pushing the envelope means he sometimes goes too far when it comes to matters of taste, most notably scenes like the infamous `chocolate pretzel' and a former `Three's Company' star playing a topless fortune teller, not to mention the 15 year old girl who's doing a `science project' that involves having sex with multiple men of varying ages. Also, Smith seems to have some sort of fixation on homosexuality that keeps coming up (pardon the pun) in his movies. Is he simply using gay jokes as a means of getting a cheap laugh or is this his way of working out some personal `issues'? I don't know and, further, I don't care because I think there are better, more creative ways to get a laugh. But, these complaints aside, this movie is still funny as hell, and, as with `Clerks', Smith proves he has a good ear for tunes to accompany the film, especially in the title sequence which features all the characters drawn comic book style. Very original, and it works perfectly. One final comment: I personally think the best way to watch his movies is to view them in order; this, for example, gives us the same basic slacker attitude and mentality of `Clerks', only in color and with a much bigger budget. He then went for the `quality' flick with `Chasing Amy' followed by the `issues' flick in `Dogma', finally returning to pure comedy in `Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back'. For one, the movies are all related, and each new one refers to his previous ones. Many of the jokes only make sense if you understand the context. And also, someone who saw the much more dramatic and polished `Chasing Amy' first and this film later might tend to dismiss it as sophomoric trash, not realizing that Smith got his start doing pure comedy, not romantic drama. In sum, this is a film in the tradition of `Airplane!' or `Scary Movie' in that it's all about going to any length to get a laugh, and, for the most part, it succeeds splendidly.

8/10

PS. As with all his other movies, Kevin Smith goes to considerable length to please his fans with his DVD's. They are all chock full of extra features, deleted scenes and the like, and his commentaries are some of the best in the movie business. Smith obviously knows he has a highly loyal fan base, and he returns that loyalty in spades.

To everybody who did not like this movie: You are not obviously Kevin Smith fans. I am, and everyone one of the NJ3 are great. This one is just different. Shannen Doherty is surprisingly cool in this one, and Jason Lee is hysterical. Jay and Silent Bob are hysterical as usual, and everyone else is great. Watch if you are a Smith fan, just keep an open mind.

'Mallrats' but is the kind of film you either like or don't like which is pretty much the case with any Kevin Smith movie. I liked it. I enjoyed all the dirty street humour, the awkwardness, the characters and the concept.

It's full of slapstick comedies, comic book 'adventure' and some witty (and dirty) dialogues. Even though many of the situations are unrealistic, it's hilarious.

'Mallrats' is about two friends who both lose their girlfriends. The two friends spend the rest of the day in the mall discussing things and what to do about them. In the mall they meet some friends, enemies, and weirdos. Though the plot isn't what would be referred to as a work of 'genius', it's more the characters and the funny situations that will stick to mind.

The only sequence I didn't like was the toilet humour bit, about making the hand stink. That sort of brought down the film a little. The film was already on the right track with its funny characters and funny situations. There was no need for toilet humour.

London and Lee play the two friends. London is okay while Lee is very good. He pretty much steals every scene. Doherty and Forlani are adequate. Lauren Adams is brilliant in a brief role and Affleck is good as the evil Salesman. Mewes and Smith are alright (though some may feel that they go a little over the top).

So all in all, you'll meet some very weird (and not-so-weird) characters and exaggerated situations but I think you'll at least have some good laughs. It's one of the better comedies from a country that has made dozens of blockbuster garbage like 'American Pie'.

As most Smith fanboys know, Mallrats has been trashed critically, financially (bad box-office) and by a lot of Smith's own fan-base.

Personally I like it. Even without watching the DVD with commentary by Smith its obvious that this outing was backed by Hollywood, emitting a polish and lack of gloom that his other films don't have and thus gaining flack over its lack of "Indie" look and feel and hammy storyline. Had this film been in black in white, shot using a cheaper production method, or had a less happier ending, it possibly would have fared better with the fans than it did.

Listen to the dialogue though and its soon apparent this is indeed pure Smith. And it shines. The long diatribes about seemingly nothing, the anti-establishment rumblings of Brody (who ironically spends a lot of the film clarifying escalator ettiquite and other mall law), and a bigger involvement of Jay and Bob (but not too much) make this as good, if not better than the other Kevin Smith films and quite possibly my favourite of his.

Its hard to rate this film, you'll either really like it and give it a 10 or tuck into another chocolate pretzel after giving it a 1.