Mallrats

Mallrats (1995)

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Kevin Smith

Starring: Besides Jay & Silent Bob, there's Jason Lee, Jeremy London, Claire Forlani, and Shannen Doherty (RIP)

From: Universal/Gramercy

Growing up means realizing that the two leads here are intolerable man-children!

Truth be told, I’ve always thought that Kevin Smith is hit or miss. Most of what I’ve seen from him was before Letterboxd but it’s not just me enjoying Clerks and thinking that his films in the last 15 years have been abominations. I didn’t even care for Chasing Amy at the time; hearsay tells me that it’s aged exactly as poorly as expected. The idea of going through his filmography to confirm or change my opinions from the past—won’t be happening. However, this was one always looked at favorably to me, plus I can tip my cap to the late Shannen Doherty. To clarify, the theatrical version was streamed via a Prime rental.

What a surprise it was realizing that the two leads (Brodie Bruce and T.S. Quint; yes, obvious references) are both unlikable slackers with no ambition-especially the former-who somehow pulled Doherty and Claire Forlani, both rightfully dumped for acting like tools, and as a middle-aged man a few years older than Michael Rooker in this film, my amusement at those two college-aged tools is not the same as in the past. Rather, despite the way they were written, the women characters were more likable and enjoyable. For being a jerk, I also preferred Rooker’s character as at least he acted like an adult. Of course, no complaints w/ Stan Lee playing himself in a cameo back when that was rare.

For all my complaints, there are still laughs to be had; while it’s an opportunity for Smith to further bag about his comic book fandom via several gags, at least Jay and Silent Bob made me chuckle as supporting characters. There’s still various gross-out gags for those that love such things. Yet, I always remembered hearing Smith carping that he wasn’t allowed to use certain vulgar phrases in the movie. Sounds rather childish given that Mallrats still has a rather uncomfortable subplot involving a 15-year-old girl. Perhaps there’s a reason that there are plenty of Smith characters that can be described as man-children…

I hate to be mean to Kevin; in recent years he’s admitted mental health struggles related to childhood trauma. Be that as it may, going through the rest of his filmography suddenly has become less likely. I’ll always have fond memories for Clerks but as I’ve done for years now, ignoring his current output is a definite. At least this has sailboat and views of a 90’s mall, which is something I’ll have nostalgic feelings for due to remembering the local mall in my youth.