Originally written June 6, 2009

Mallrats is Kevin Smith’s second movie in the “New Jersey” saga. Although this isn’t a sequel to Clerks by any means, these movies take place in the same universe, and this is seen by some recurring characters throughout the movies. However, the only two characters who are in all of the movies are Jay (played by Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (played by Kevin Smith), the two drug dealing maniacs who just hang out all day and cause mayhem.

Unlike Clerks, Mallrats actually has a bigger plot to it. It’s a simple plot, but it’s present a lot more in the movie than Clerks’s plot was. Mallrats is about two guys named TS Quint (played by Jeremy London) and Brodie (played by Jason Lee), who are down on their luck because they have both just been dumped by their girlfriends, Brandi (played by Claire Forlani) and Rene (played by Shannen Doherty) respectively.

In low spirits, the two friends decide to seek refuge in their local mall, and spend the day there. However, things don’t go as planned when they find that both of their girlfriends are at the mall as well. Realizing neither of them are over their girlfriends, the two boys try to win their girls back while having a fun day out at the mall.

It’s not much of a plot, sure, but it does keep you amused. Most of the movie is amusing. It suffers from a slow beginning, though, as the movie is dumb and not funny whatsoever until they get to the mall, and even then it takes a little while to pick up. However, when it does pick up, it’s hilarious.

Mallrats has the same kind of humor you would expect from a Kevin Smith film, and it’s top notch like the rest of his movies. I liked the pair of Dante and Randal from Clerks more than I like TS and Brodie, but oh well. My main complaint is TS. I know you always need the serious guy in this kind of movie, but Dante was the serious one in Clerks and I still love him as a character. TS was just not interesting in my opinion, and the movie wouldn’t have been worth it had it not been for Brodie. Brodie makes the movie, and it’s his hilarity that makes it such a great film.

I really don’t have any other complaints about the movie except for those. In fact, everything else about the movie is awesome. I know not everyone likes Mallrats, and I’d have to say that it’s definitely not Kevin Smith’s best by any means. However, I still felt it was a solid entry in the “New Jersey” movies, and I liked it. Not tremendously great, but still a good movie in my book, with enough funny parts to make it worth it.

3.5/5