Mallrats
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| Mallrats | |
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| Directed by | Kevin Smith |
| Produced by | Scott Daniel James Jacks Scott Mosier Kevin Smith (Uncredited) |
| Written by | Kevin Smith |
| Starring | Shannen Doherty Jeremy London Jason Lee Claire Forlani Ben Affleck Joey Lauren Adams Jason Mewes Kevin Smith |
| Music by | Ira Newborn |
| Distributed by | Gramercy Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 20, 1995 |
| Running time | 94 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6,100,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
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, although the movie was filmed in the Eden Prairie Center Mall, which is located in Minnesota, not 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.
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[edit] Plot
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, intending to seduce her and then have sex 'in a very uncomfortable place' with her. A running joke is that this is the 'back of a Volkswagen' rather than the anal sex he intends.
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.
[edit] Cast
- Jeremy London as T.S. Quint
- Jason Lee as Brodie Bruce
- Shannen Doherty as Rene Mosier
- Claire Forlani as Brandi Svenning
- Jason Mewes as Jay
- Kevin Smith as Silent Bob
- Ben Affleck as Shannon Hamilton
- Joey Lauren Adams as Gwen Turner
- Renée Humphrey as Tricia Jones
- Michael Rooker as Mr. Jared Svenning
- Ethan Suplee as Willam Black
- Sven-Ole Thorsen as La Fours
- Scott Mosier as Roddy
- Priscilla Barnes as Miss Ivannah
- Walt Flanagan as Walt Grover, the Fanboy
- Bryan Johnson as Steve-Dave Pulasti
- Stan Lee as Himself
- Ethan Flower as Doug Paging, Suitor #1
- Ed Hapstak as Rob Feature, Suitor #2
- Brian O'Halloran as Gil Hicks, Suitor #3
[edit] Opening credits sequence
The opening credits sequence features a number of comic book covers based on characters that appear in the film. The covers appear next to a corresponding character parodied in the credits. Many of these covers make references to existing comics. They appear in the film in the following order:
- New Jersey Mall 07732 (Shannen Doherty as Rene Mosier) — The logo bears resemblance to that of Beverly Hills 90210 (a television program for which Shannen Doherty is known for) although the overall style of the cover is very akin to that of Image Comics. 07732 is Highlands, New Jersey. Art by Jae Lee.
- Defective Comics (Jeremy London as T.S. Quint) — A parody of Detective Comics. On the cover, T.S. and Mike Allred's Madman are trying to escape from a pack of large robots with the help of Jay and Silent Bob. Art by Mike Allred.
- Brodieman (Jason Lee as Brodie Bruce) — The logo and the emblem on the shirt "Brodieman" is wearing are both reminiscent of Superman. The cover also features elements similar to The Hulk and Marvel Comics. Art by J. Scott Campbell.
- Brandi - The Last Babe on Earth (Claire Forlani as Brandi Svenning) — On this cover, Brandi is escaping from what appears to be a shark emerging from molten lava. This is a parody of Kamandi - The Last Boy on Earth.
- Buttman Adventures (Ben Affleck as Shannon Hamilton) — The logo is a parody of logos for various Batman comics. Art by Rob Liefeld.
- Gwen13 (Joey Lauren Adams as Gwen Turner) — A parody of Gen13. An odd point of detail is that there is an emblem on the character's right shoulder that appears to be a cancelled sign of a penis and adjoined testicles. This seems to be a reference to the scene where she kicks Quint in the groin. Coincidentally, Joey Lauren Adams would portray a lesbian on Kevin Smith's next film, Chasing Amy. This could also be seen as a reference to lesbian actress and screenwriter Guinivere Turner, a friend of director Smith's, who in turn would appear in Chasing Amy as the woman who invites Adams to sing at the club. Art by Adam Hughes.
- Weapon Sex (Renée Humphrey as Tricia Jones) — A parody of Weapon X, a comic featuring Wolverine of the X-Men series. Various sex toys are seen on the cover while the Tricia character is sporting gloves with claws parodying Wolverine's. The book Boregasm is also featured.
- Legends of the Dork Knights (Jason Mewes as Jay) — A parody of Legends of the Dark Knight, a Batman comic. Both Jay and Silent Bob are featured. Art by Joe Quesada.
- The Incredible Bulk (Ethan Suplee as Willam Black) — A parody of The Incredible Hulk. Willam's character is shown crashing through a wall, holding a Magic Eye poster titled "Sailboat". Art by Dave Johnson.
- Adventures of The Man (Stan Lee as Himself) — A play on "Stan the Man". Stan's feet appear to be similar in design to the Spider-Man costume.
- Angry Pop Comix (Michael Rooker as Mr. Jared Svenning) — Mr. Svenning is seen as an armor-clad warrior holding the skull of T.S. as Brandi stands in the background, shocked that he has added T.S. to his collection. Art by Ethan Van Sciver.
All of the covers can be viewed at View Askew website here: Mallrats "Comic Toast"
[edit] DVD
A special edition DVD was released in 1998 including 1.85:1 Anamorphic widescreen picture & 5.1 Dolby surround sound bonus features included
- Audio commentary with Director Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Scott Mosier & Vincent Pereira
- Deleted Scenes
- Featurette-viewaskew's look back at Mallrats
- Music Video-Build me up buttercup by the goops
- Theatrical Trailer
In 2005 a tenth anniversary edition was also released. It features an alternate cut of the movie which was changed as the result of poor test screenings. Also included was a new Q&A session with most of the movie's cast.
[edit] Trivia
- In Clerks: The Lost Scene it is revealed that Mallrats takes place one day before Clerks.
- The movie was filmed at the Eden Prairie Center mall in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, with some footage filmed at Mall of America in Bloomington. The now dilapidated Bannister Mall in Kansas City, Missouri was originally considered for filming until mall executives objected to content in the film, subsequently refusing to allow the production to be shot there.
- Various references to the 1975 horror film Jaws can be found throughout Mallrats. The Mallrats character names "Brodie", "Quint" and Brodie's surname "Bruce" are references to the characters "Brody" and "Quint" from Jaws (Bruce was the name of the shark). In addition to this, T.S. (Smith said that the initials stand for "The Shark") had planned to propose to Brandi at the point "when Jaws pops out of the water" on the Universal Studios tour.
- The film is Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee's first feature.
- The scene between Brodie and Stan Lee has been compared to the scene between Wolfman Jack and Richard Dreyfuss in American Graffiti by many, even a Universal executive at the time. Both scenes are similar, in that a celebrity of some sort (who is playedby the celebrity himself) gives advice to a young man who has girl trouble.
- 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 originally played by producer Scott Mosier in Clerks.. In the continuity of the View Askewniverse, Kevin Smith refers to this as the "Willam of Two Worlds" phenomenon, in reference to Marvel comics's multiple universes.
- 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 construction assistants (wearing similar wardrobe to T.S.)
- 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. Smith has also stated that he had considered a comic book sequel based on the original Mallrats 2 premise.
- At the U.S. Route 1 Flea Market ("Dirt Mall"), as Brodie is looking through comics and explaining that T.S. used to be a "stand up guy", T.S. tries on a black cap that reads "Clerks". Also in this scene is a cameo from an ex-girlfriend of Kevin Smith's. Not only did this individual make four of the "Clerks" hats in question (including the one that T.S. wears on camera), Smith notes her as the inspiration for the character of Rene Mosier.
- 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.[2]
- The character LaFours is a nod to the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, in which a man by the same name leads a posse that is chasing the titular characters. He is identifiable in both films due to his trademark straw hat.
- The comic collection seen in Brodie's basement is Smith's own collection which he re-purchased after the success of Clerks. It was originally sold to help fund the filming and production of Clerks.
- The MagicEye "sailboat" picture is actually a 4 x 3 matrix of geometric shapes consisting of a cross, a circle, a diamond, a star, 4 segmented circles and 4 cones.
- The U.S. Route 1 Flea Market (referred to as the "Dirt Mall"), where Miss Ivannah has her stall, was a real indoor flea market located on Route 1 in New Brunswick until 1998, when it was torn down to make way for a Loews Cineplex movie theater.[3] [4]
- Brodie's house is the same house used as Dante Hicks' residence in Clerks.
- Trish "The Dish" Jones (Renee Humphrey) is one of the three View Askew series' infamous "Jones sisters" (the others being "Heather Jones" from Clerks. and "Alyssa Jones" from Chasing Amy).
- During casting, Seth Green and Breckin Meyer were considered for the role of Jay while Jennifer Love Hewitt auditioned for the role of Trisha Jones.
- Brian O'Halloran, who played main character "Dante Hicks" in Clerks., plays cousin "Gil Hicks"
- Some print advertisements for the film featured a 3D stereogram, an in joke.
- The definition of "callow" given in the film, that it means "frightened and weak willed" is incorrect. "Callow" is a synonym for immaturity and inexperience.
[edit] External links
- Mallrats at the Internet Movie Database
- Mallrats at View Askew Productions
- Official Universal Pictures site for the 10th anniversary DVD
- The Spoilers Alternate DVD Commentary of Mallrats
| Kevin Smith |
|---|
| Films |
| The View Askewniverse: Clerks | Mallrats | Chasing Amy | Dogma | Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back | Clerks II Upcoming: An Evening With Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder | Untitled Horror Project | Ranger Danger and the Danger Rangers | Clerks: Sell Out |
| Comics |
| Clerks | Chasing Dogma | Bluntman and Chronic | Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do | Daredevil/Bullseye: The Target |
| Notable characters |
| Jay and Silent Bob | Dante | Randal | Banky | Alyssa | Leonardo | Bluntman and Chronic | Mooby | Buddy Christ | Brodie | Willam | Minor characters |
| Other articles |
| View Askew Productions | View Askewniverse motifs | The Flying Car | Clerks: The Animated Series | Clerks: The Lost Scene | Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash | Silent Bob Speaks | Trooper Clerks |
