- Title: Mallrats
- IMDB: link
I know some who believe Mallrats is Kevin Smith‘s best film. I don’t. Although I think you can enjoy the slacker young adult comedy for what it is, Mallrats hasn’t aged all that well. The film stars Jeremy London and Jason Lee as best friends hanging out at the mall attempting to win back their girlfriends, one of whom (Shannen Doherty) is now dating Ben Affleck and another who (Claire Forlani) is a contestant on a dating game show taking place that night in the mall.
Filling out the cast with an assortment of odd characters the likes of slacker drug dealers Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) as well as Stan Lee (playing himself), Michael Rooker (as the overprotective father of Forlani’s character who ropes her into performing on the dating show causing the break-up), Priscilla Barnes (as a low-rent psychic), and Renée Humphrey (as a sexually experienced minor whose sexual adventures play a major role in the final sequence of events).
Mallrats isn’t bad by any means as it provides several fun moments such as the “stink palm,” Joey Lauren Adams trying on panties in the middle of a department store (and getting interrupted in the dressing room by Jay and Silent Bob), the dating game, the Jedi-Mind Trick, the running joke about the backseat of a Volkswagen, and Bob’s Batman utility belt moment. It does suffer from London apparently reading all his lines off queue cards just off camera, the questionable casting of Doherty (who the studio forced on the director), and the fact that as amusing as Lee’s Brodie character may be he’s a far cry from the greatness the actor would find in his next collaboration with Kevin Smith.
The Blu-ray includes both the theatrical and extended (i.e. unwatchable) versions of the film, a digital copy of the movie, deleted scenes, outtakes, introduction by Kevin Smith, trailer, and cast commentary that’s arguably more enjoyable listening to than the film itself. Also included are a series of featurettes such as the 10th Anniversary reunion of the cast, cast interviews, a behind-the-scenes making of featurette, and short video clips of members of the cast’s shenanigans on-set such as Jason Mewes dancing and Jason Lee playing with a pair of panties. The assortment of extras make the film worth picking up for those Smith fans who haven’t already added it to their collection.
[Universal Studios, $19.98]
