Mallrats

Starring: Shannen Doherty, Jeremy London, Jason Lee, Claire Forlani, Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Ethan Suplee, Stan Lee, Michael Rooker
Directed by: Kevin Smith
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Romance
1995

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: After their girlfriends (Shannen Doherty, Claire Forlani) dump them, two friends (Jeremy London, Jason Lee) head to the mall to complain and construct plans to get their women back.

Review:

Tim: Like most of Kevin Smith's movies, Mallrats is fairly polarizing. Some people love the movie, while others hate it. I've never been the biggest Kevin Smith fan, but I certainly respect him as a director. I believe Mallrats is a solid effort, and a pretty funny movie.

Smith's greatest talent has to be writing dialogue. He is a gifted writer, and the rapid-fire conversations here are really funny and entertaining. I could just sit back and watch his characters speak those beautiful, foul, controversial words all day long. Bad dialogue ruins far too many movies- many good scripts are spoiled by the awful, wooden dialogue uttered by the characters. Smith's films never have that problem. This film is a perfect example. The characters talk lightning-fast, saying thoughtful, controversial things that all happen to be really, really funny. That's the film's greatest strength.

Mallrats is a fun, quirky story that never really amounts to much, but is still enjoyable to watch. I love how Smith connects all his films through characters and themes, and this film is more effective when looked at in connection with movies like Clerks, Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and others. That's a cool way to approach film making, and another of the traits that makes Smith a unique director. This movie takes on additional depth when looked at in that manner.

The cast is pretty good. Jeremy London was an odd choice for perhaps the film's biggest role. London isn't a great actor, and I did not love him here. He seemed to occasionally stumble through the film. Jason Lee, on the other hand, was terrific. Lee's such an intelligent actor, and he delivers those rapid fire lines brilliantly. I thought he was funny, memorable, and engaging. He was probably my favorite actor in the film. I thought Shannen Doherty and Claire Forlani were decent as the respective girlfriends, but the writing was definitely better for the guys.

It was fun seeing Ben Affleck as one of the film's antagonists. Michael Rooker also makes a terrific bad guy. I liked Joey Lauren Adams, a frequent Smith contributor. Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith himself work well as Jay and Silent Bob. I also enjoyed the smaller performance of Ethan Suplee, who has some of the film's funniest lines.

While Mallrats isn't a great movie, it is a very good follow up to Smith's directorial debut. He stayed true to his film making style while also pushing his boundaries a bit as a director. Smith is probably one of those directors that people either love or hate, but with funny, harmless movies like Mallrats, he's definitely proving his worth behind the camera.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Chasing Amy, Cop Out, Zack and Miri Make a Porno