Fellman's Movie Reviews

Mallrats is a 1995 comedy written and directed by Kevin Smith. It stars Jason Lee, Jeremy London, Shannon Doherty, Claire Forlani, Ben Affleck, Jason Mewes, and Kevin Smith. The movie revolves around T.S. Quint (London) and Brody (Lee) who both recently broke up with their girlfriends and are spending the day meandering around the local mall. This is Kevin Smith’s second movie after Clerks was released. And although it wasn’t received as well by critics, it has since become a cult classic and fan favorite amongst moviegoers. 

I think Mallrats is Kevin Smith’s best movie. Don’t get me wrong, I love Clerks. I think it’s great. But Mallrats gave him the ability to put some energy behind his art. He had the money to go with his talent. And that’s important. Because as we all know, money makes the world go round. And you can’t make movies for free. I’m not saying it had a $500 million budget or anything. But it had a lot more than the $28k that it took to shoot Clerks with. 

And it had the same wit and sarcasm that Clerks had, just with a little more production value. The characters are more fun in this movie too. The intro with the comic books showing all of the characters as covers of their own comics is pretty original. Ben Affleck was appropriately named “Buttman” in his book. If you don’t understand the joke, watch the movie, you’ll get it.  

Jay and Silent Bob are still in their fledgling years as characters in this movie. They haven’t quite worn out their welcome yet. Even when it comes to Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob are getting old as characters. And by Clerks 2, they’re almost annoying. At least in Mallrats, they’re still entertaining and funny as the comic relief they’re supposed to be.  

There’s an extended version of Mallrats that’s almost half an hour longer than the movie that was released. And when you watch it, it’s easy to see why the version that got released is the one that was approved. The extended version is pretty awful. The half hour that cut and left on the editing room floor is all pretty bad stuff. The movie that they put out is much better without it. Critics didn’t like it when it first came out, but it’s one of the most well-known Kevin Smith movies out there. And a beloved comedy when it comes to cult classics.  

So, yeah. Go and see Mallrats. If you’re into comic books, hanging out, tits and foul language, this is the movie for you. If you’re not into those things, maybe we shouldn’t be friends. And also, you might not want to see this movie. But if you have a sense of humor, you should see this movie. Because it’s a classic comedy that will make you laugh up and down. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…