Mallrats

Rating:
Summary: Welcome to Camp
Review: Kevin Smith did almost ridiculously well with his premiere film, Clerks, and followed with the film you see here. Panned by critics, loved by hard-core Askewheads, Mallrats is disappointing on many levels (it abandons the most intelligent aspects of Clerks and misses the polish that came in with Chasing Amy), but it's probably Smith's most amusing and lighthearted movie, and definitely the best introduction for someone unfamiliar with Smith (they're still out there!). In addition, the commentary on this DVD reveals Smith's limitations by Gramercy (they wanted the "intelligent Porky's" marketability). Typical sophomore slump stuff. Good way to see early Ben Affleck as the alpha-male Shannon, and early Jason Lee as well. Worth the money.

When do I get to see the sailboat, God?

Rating:
Summary: Second base
Review: Smith's second effort, and likewise, lost between his independent premier in Clerks, and the better-known and produced Chasing Amy. However, Mallrats has its own in-jokes on the mall culture, just as the other two movies skewered retail and the comics industry, respectively. As such, take this one as its own piece. Guys lose girls, guys go to ridiculous ends to get girls back. But this isn't John Hughes here, folks. Somewhere between the raunchy jokes of Clerks and the tragicomic of Chasing Amy. Although all three movies stand alone, viewing them in order is useful to watch for cross references and the use of recurring actors, such as Mewes, Smith (himself), Affleck and Adams.

Rating:
Summary: The Smart "PORKY'S"
Review: This film was beaten by bad press, low box-office grosses, and left for dead. Now, with this excellent special edition DVD. This finally is getting the respect it deserved. Looking back Mallrats was very simple, but ultimately original comedy. I think the reason this was not a critics darling, whilst writer/director/actor Kevin Smith's other films are extolled by every critic on the roll call, is because this one didn't have a point to make. It pretty much repeated the points made in "Clerks." Points in which stated that the characters needed to find the drive to change their station in life. Only in this case they do so, just to get their girlfriends back. Once again Smith employs his usual aggressive wit, which now in this case discusses the coital ability of Superman all the way to the difference between the food-court stores and autonomuos units for mid-mall snacking. But the only reason I'm deducting points because of the simplicity upon the comparison to Smith's other outing. Outings that had a driving force aided by a sly smart script. In this case, it's a simple premise aided by a sly, smart script with an excellent cast list, With the exception of Jeremy London who gave a totally annoying performance. Points would be deducted but fortunately he supplies the foundation to the enjoyably well-timed performance of Jason Lee. His debut performance as Brodie is a comedic dynamo which is only upstaged by Smiths immortal characters Jay and Silent Bob, whose scenes are humorously cartoony which will stay with me forever. This DVD has stuff that can only be viewed and enjoyed in this format. Ranging from deleted scenes to a wildly funny commentary from most of the main cast. This film was Kevin Smith's commercial experiment. Too see how a studio film would be handled under his wing. There's nothing wrong with that. "Mallrats" is a worthy effort, which boasts memorable scenes, characters, and dialogue. Finally this film has gained the cult status it deserves, right next to "Dune" and "Hudson Hawk." To see "Mallrats at it's finest, buy this DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Mallrats, the bible of my highschool years.
Review: This movie didn't receive the any big hollywood recognitionand, to be honest, it probably didn't deserve much. Like my titlesaid, this was basically my bible in high school. This was the moviethat, however horibble this may sound, defined the life of friends andI. It is a funny show, with some casual wit, and mild ... shots. Jayand Silent Bob shine like the stars? they are. This was, by far JasonLee's best preformance, in a Smith Film. There is a peice ofeveryonein this film, even if that may be hard to admit. END

Rating:
Summary: The Mallrats DVD
Review: With 150+ reviews of this film, the controversy rages on: Was this film a box-office flop because it was awful, or because Universal & Gramercy screwed up the marketing?

For me, the heart of the matter is that this film was extremely hard to market. As Kevin Smith comments on the DVD, the studio wanted a smart "Porkys" -- a film aimed at youth with frontal nudity and just enough, but not too much, rough language. The demographic for the film was a young audience, but the "R" rating didn't help to fill the theaters.

As with other Kevin Smith productions, this DVD is a work of love. Smith includes many deleted scenes, including the two aborted alternative openings. The running commentary completely fleshes out the production history of the film, and the choices that were made in production. The original opening is shown in the deleted scenes section, and one can see why it fell flat in test screenings -- the plotline with TS as the "rooftop sniper" and the CNN repartee peppered in the rest of the movie was an unfunny dilution of the central story, which added nothing to the central plot development.

Like its predecessor, "Clerks," Mallrats relies on the building of episodic humorous bits, which crescendo into truly brilliant humor, as when Ethan Suplee, completely frustrated that everyone can see the sailboat, but him, verbally explodes at the group of small children, that there is no Easter bunny.

As with Clerks and Chasing Amy, Smith's central theme, as spoken by comic book legend Stan Lee in this film, is that when you find "the one" love of your life, hold on for dear life, or risk eternal regret and disappointment. The verbally-brilliant Jason Lee (Brodie) and straight-man Jeremy London (TS) are the central characters, who conspire through the length of this film, to win back their newly-lost loves, Shannon Daugherty, and Claire Forlani. Some of the humor is flat and sophomoric, but when the great moments of this film arrive, truly great comedy results.

This is a great DVD to study the rescuing of a script, which definitely had problems. Whether Kevin Smith succeeded in that endeavor is the core of the great debate about this film.

Bottom line is that this movie is funny, and a must-see for any Kevin Smith fan. Seeing Joey Lauren Adams prior to her stellar portrayal in Chasing Amy was interesting, and of course, Jay and Silent Bob are a total joy (especially in Silent Bob's attempts to levitate a Marlboro, and Jay's reaction to same). Since Smith's next movie, "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back," is now in production, this movie, along with the other Smith opuses, will soon be required viewing to fully understand the J&SB saga.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Of Kevin Smith
Review: "Mallrats" is the most panned and least successful of Kevin Smith's four movies and one that Smith himself has apologized for making. But I don't get it. It is by far the funniest movie of the bunch, the plot is silly but fun and the ending is pretty satisfying (can't say that for "Chasing Amy", Smith's most praised film). "Mallrats" also introduced us to a fine young talent in Jason Lee, who absolutely steals this movie as Brodie Bruce, the ultimate slacker. I found myself laughing even before he opened his mouth because I knew he was going to say something funny.

Silent Bob (played by Smith) and Jay (Jason Mewes) also have some very funny scenes in this movie, although their showing in Smith's "Dogma" was a little more entertaining. I also thought Ben Affleck was a good choice for the coniving manager of the "Fashionable Male" who tries to woo Brodie's ex-girlfriend, Rene (Shannen Doherty).

Smith has said that if he were to have to do it over again, he would not have cast Jeremy London as Brodie's sidekick, T.S. (or is Brodie T.S.'s sidekick?), but actually he is fine in the straight man role. Sure, he's a lousy actor, but if you're looking for Oscar winning performances, Kevin Smith films aren't for you anyway.

"Mallrats" can be crude (although not as crude as Smith's "Clerks"), but it is funny. Kick back, have a beer, pop the tape in and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Best Kevin Smith movie so far?
Review: This is in my humble opinion the best film Kevin Smith has done yet. Much better than Chasing Amy and Dogma. Clerks is good but Mallrats is just a little better.

The new collectors edition dvd gives the viewer plenty of extras so enough already.... buy this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, but not worth the cost
Review: This is probably one of my favorite comedies, and probably the most popular of all of Kevin Smith's films (although lately Dogma seems to have given it a run for its money).

I waited for several years til I had DVD player to buy this movie instead of getting it on tape, but after finally buying it, I've decided the VHS would have been a better buy.

This high cost of this DVD is apparantly for the special features, but they really don't make up for the extra cost. I suppose the "hour of deleted scenes" was the biggest draw for me, but they we're good at all. The twenty minute orignal opening sequence, as Kevin Smith explains, was removed becuase noone in the orignal test audience laughed at any of it, and neither will you. Virtually all of the other cut scenes are snippets that were cut becuase they related to the original opening and no longer would have made sense.

I haven't had a chance to watch the feature commentary yet, so I won't judge on it, but the deleted scenes were no worth it. If you really want the movie but need to see the extras, buy the tape and rent the DVD to save yourself some cash.

Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: This is definitely a classic!! Just a mindless good time! Kevin Smith did a terrific job of making virtually every prop, line, and scene hysterically funny. Jason Lee's character was hilarious! Definitely worth seeing again and again!

Rating:
Summary: Great lowbrow movie for the younger crowd
Review: Sure the plot is predictable and a little overused, but the movie is still very funny. Kevin Smith (director) loves dialog-rich movies and this is no exception. It deals with a couple of guys pining over their recently lost girlfriends and scheming to win them back. These two have funny expositions on relationships (and superheroes). Jay and Silent Bob (two background characters from all of Smith's movies) appear here as well to offer their unique assistance. Jay is crude and uses lots of foul language (so beware if that offends you). But Jay and Bob serve as a great subplot to the movie. Don't take it seriously, it's just a fun movie.