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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dumb and predictable, yet consistently funny throughout, Aug 21 2006
Mallrats is actually my first Kevin Smith film. This is one of those films I wish I liked less than I do because it is pretty stupid, it inflicts a really doughy Ben Affleck on us, and it gets pretty campy and predictable in the end. It's not hard to see why critics hated it and theatre-goers didn't exactly fill the aisles to see it - the characters may be college age, but this really plays as a teen film, and the deserved R rating kept a good part of the target audience away. After being dumped by their girlfriends, T.S. (Jeremy London) and Brodie (Jason Lee) decide on a little mall therapy, and so the mallrat adventure begins. T.S. is rather annoying, actually, but Brodie is a great character - a flippant, constantly amusing wise-acre who is frighteningly intelligent in the most obscure of ways. His endless chatter would drive you crazy after a few hours, but, fortunately, you only have to spend an hour and a half with him in the movie. The girls, neither of whom is adequately developed as a character, are also at the mall - as are Jay and Silent Bob and other assorted oddballs. The guys are anxious to try and patch things up with their girls, but each one faces a major obstacle: for T.S., it is his girl's brutish father, while an almost unrecognizably doughy, unimpressive Ben Affleck is laying claim to the girl Brodie thinks is rightly his. A boatload of hijinx and juvenile situations arise, sexual innuendoes dot the cinematic landscape, and a good time is had by all. There's nothing very original about the plot (apart from the dispensing of romantic advice from the lips of comics legend Stan Lee), but the film is continually entertaining throughout. It really comes down to Jason Lee; as far as I'm concerned, he carries the whole film on his back and almost single-handedly makes everything entertaining.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too big, too soon?, Oct 13 2003
This review is from: Mallrats: Collector's Edition (Widescreen) (DVD)
I remember seeing Mallrats when it was first released and thinking how good it was. It was probably a mix of the lingering Clerks honeymoon and the familiar setting of Eden Prairie, MN. But I've rewatched this film twice in the last week and it's slipped a couple of notches. Here's why: 1. Mallrats is an exceedingly large production compared to Clerks. Think only about the different locations between the two films. Convenience/Video Store vs. 2 malls in 2 different states. The Mall in MN was somewhat of a ghost town during the filming period so they were able to customize the stores more than a typical mall (Carpet Munchers and Buy Me Toys). The grandure of the production seems to detract from the meat of the film. Whereas Clerks was carried by it's dialogue. 2. Budget was of little concern to Smith (who made Clerks for chump change) for this film. Seemingly unlimited funds facilitated a "kitchen sink" mentality. "We've got enough money to do this, this and this" As opposed to "This or that". So Mallrats is a little fat around the middle. 3. Acting - Be honest. After seeing this movie, did you think you'd ever see Jeremy London in another film? This guy couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. (Probably explains why he's on Seventh Heaven now.) Jason Lee is Jason Lee. Certainly not up for an Oscar, but convincing and charismatic. The rest of the cast is about average. I'm not suggesting we should expect top-notch acting here but at least make it natural. I can't blame Kevin Smith for wanting to strike while the iron was hot here, but with a little more time and a little more focus, this could have been much better film. Smith may have been in a "This is my one big shot, so I'm gonna show 'em everything I got" mindset. Smith figured out the patience factor with Chasing Amy and honed his directing skills in Dogma. The soundtrack to Mallrats saves experience for me. Anyone who includes Archers of Loaf deserves a break.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Movie Ever, May 29 2005
By A Customer
Seriously this is the best movie ever and even though everyone says that this is the worst of all the Jay and Silent Bob movies I think it is definatly the best one...
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