Mallrats

Mallrats
Directed by	Kevin Smith
Written by	Kevin Smith
Produced by	Scott Daniel James Jacks Scott Mosier Kevin Smith (Uncredited)
Starring	Shannen Doherty Jeremy London Jason Lee Claire Forlani Ben Affleck Joey Lauren Adams Jason Mewes Kevin Smith
Distributed by	Gramercy Pictures
Release dates	October 20, 1995
Running time	94 min.
Language	English
Budget	$6,100,000

Mallrats is a 1995 film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It is the second to be set in Smith's "View Askewniverse" series of interlocking films set mostly in New Jersey. As in the other View Askewniverse movies, the characters Jay and Silent Bob figure prominently, and characters and events from other films are discussed. Several cast members, including Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, and Joey Lauren Adams, have gone on to work in several other Smith films. Comic book icon Stan Lee made a cameo appearance, as did Brian O'Halloran, the star of Smith's breakout feature Clerks.

Mallrats was the subject of much critical derision when it was released, with many critics comparing it unfavorably to Smith's first film, Clerks. In his negative review of the film, critic Roger Ebert said "Before Mallrats was released, I chaired a panel that Smith participated in and Kevin Smith cheerfully said he'd be happy to do whatever the studios wanted, if they'd pay for his films. At the time, I thought he was joking." [1]

Kevin Smith responded by apologizing for Mallrats at the 1996 Independent Spirit Awards, though he later stated that the apology was made in jest. Nevertheless, the film developed a strong cult following after it was released on video.

Synopsis

T.S. (London) is preparing for a trip to Universal Studios Florida with his girlfriend Brandi (Forlani), during which he plans to propose to her; however, the two have an argument and break up after Brandi tells him she can't go because she's volunteered to fill in as a contestant on Truth or Date, her dad's "cheesy Dating Game rip-off" TV show. T.S. turns to his comic book-loving best friend Brodie (Jason Lee), who has been dumped by his girlfriend Rene (Shannen Doherty), and Brodie suggests the two might find solace at the local mall.

Brodie and T.S. discover Truth or Date is shooting at the same mall, and ask local ne'er-do-wells Jay and Silent Bob to destroy the show's stage, a task for which they devise elaborate but ultimately unsuccessful plans. Brodie also finds out Rene is being pursued by his nemesis (Ben Affleck), a clothing store owner who hates Brodie because of his "lack of a shopping agenda," and has nefarious plans for Rene.

Between seeking romantic advice from Stan Lee and debating such topics as the sexual proclivities of comic-book characters and the status of a cookie stand located outside the official food court, the two run into various acquaintances, including a sex researcher who happens to be a minor, and a guy who spends all day trying to see the hidden image of a sailboat in a Magic Eye poster. They also run afoul of Brandi's father, who has the mall security guard La Fours (Sven-Ole Thorsen) plant marijuana on their persons so they can be arrested. In addition to helping them escape, Jay and Silent Bob get two of the game show contestants stoned, allowing T.S. and Brodie to replace them on Truth or Date and woo back their respective exes.

Trivia

• The movie was filmed at the Eden Prairie Center mall in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
• The character names "Brodie", "Quint" and Brodie's surname "Bruce" are taken from the 1975 horror film Jaws; Also, T.S. planned to propose to Brandi at the point "when Jaws pops out of the water" on the Universal Studios tour. (Bruce was the name of the shark)
• Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee's first feature. Besides appearing together in other View Askew movies, they went on to co-star in the TV show My Name is Earl.
• The character Jared Svenning was not originally bald. This was a decision Michael Rooker made while trying to dye his hair gray.
• Ethan Suplee plays Willam Black in this movie, a role once played by producer Scott Mosier in Clerks.
• As in his previous film Clerks, Kevin Smith cast his childhood friend Walt Flanagan in multiple roles. In Mallrats he appears as Walt Grover the Fanboy and in an uncredited role as one of Svenning's assistants (the one yelled at for putting the podium in the wrong place).
• Before the film's release, Smith had ideas for a sequel to be named Mallrats 2: Die Hard in a Mall — an obvious spoof of "Die Hard in/on a ...," a phrase used to describe action movies after that film's success. Mallrats 2 was scrapped after the first film was a box office failure, although Smith later posted a message on the View Askew message board asking the other members what they would think of a sequel to Mallrats. Opinion was divided, and Smith decided not to pursue the project. Smith has also said he had considered a comic book sequel based on the original Mallrats 2 premise.
• In the film Dogma, Jay describes the events of Mallrats to Bartleby.
• Many of the more explicit scenes — including a Jaws homage in which Brodie, Quint and another character show scars from ill-fated attempts to have girls perform oral sex on them — were removed during writing by demand of the studio. A few of these scenes (including the aforementioned one) were featured in Smith's next film, Chasing Amy.
• At the 32nd People's Choice Awards in January 2006, when Jason Lee came onstage to accept the Best New Comedy award for My Name Is Earl a large number of the audience members at the ceremony chanted "Brodie! Brodie! Brodie!" in response to Lee's character from Mallrats.
• The opening titles song, "Social," was the debut appearance of the band Squirtgun. The band's bassist, renowned punk producer Mass Giorgini was co-producing a song for the Angus soundtrack with Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day when they received a call from the producer of the Mallrats soundtrack looking for a fresh underground pop-punk band, and Armstrong suggested his co-producer's own band.
• The ending scene in the film, featuring Jay and Silent Bob walking off with a monkey, is an unintended reference to the film "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," made several years later.
• The "10th Anniversary Extended Edition" DVD includes a two-hour cut of the film, dubbed "The Version That Should Never Have Been" by Smith.
• There was a scrapped Sega Genesis game based on the movie.
• The comic collection seen in Brodie's basement is Smith's own collection which he purchased back after the success of Clerks. It was originally sold to help fund the filming and production of Clerks.

External links

• Mallrats at IMDb
• Mallrats at View Askew Productions
• Official Universal Pictures site for the 10th anniversary DVD
• The Spoilers Alternate DVD Commentary of Mallrats