Mallrats - Finally getting the credit it deserves

Writer/director (and dare I say 'actor?'), Kevin Smith, introduced the cinematic world to the mega low-budget film 'Clerks' in 1994.  And, in short, despite its tiny budget, it was a commercial (and more importantly) critical success.  Therefore, Smith was afforded a bigger budget and with it bigger stars for his next outing, the 1995 (semi follow-up) 'Mallrats.' Way before Marvel introduced us to its mainstream 'shared universe,' Smith was already setting all his films ('Clerks, Mallrats and the subsequent releases, too) in his own 'shared universe,' complete with jokes and references to characters in other films.

'Mallrats' follows the exploits of two - semi - 'losers' (Brodie and TS played by Jason Lee and Jeremy London) who both happen to get dumped by their respective girlfriends on the same day.  To generally drown their sorrows, they head to the local mall to generally 'hang out.' However, it's fair to say that the adventures they get into involve more than just ordering a few slushies in the food court and doing a bit of window shopping.  Not only do they come up with weird and wonderful plans to win back their exes, but they also get entangled with psychotic security guards, underage girls who study older men by, er, well... you'll have to watch it and find out, plus - of course - regulars 'Jay' and 'Silent Bob' - a pair of losers/drug dealers who have a habit of drawing trouble wherever they go.

What follows is everything from a zany teen comedy with plenty of screwball antics which never takes itself seriously and yet also has a fair few points of social commentary and genuine heart thrown in their for good measure.  Sounds great, huh?  Well, the critics of the time absolutely hated it.  In fact, in one of Smith's later films, he even used snippets of various scathing critics' reviews to describe a fictional film that other characters were talking about.  I guess it's fair to say that it didn't fair too well at the Box Office.  Which, in my opinion, is an absolute tragedy.  I loved it and always have and, I'm pleased to say, that as the years have passed, it's gradually found its true cult following and is now regarded as a 'worthy successor/follow up' to the excellent 'Clerks.'

Shannon Doherty (who I'm reliably informed was very famous at the time, even though I hadn't seen anything with her in!) surprisingly takes lead billing, even though she's not in it that much.  Plus you have Kevin Smith's real life mate - a very young Ben Affleck - in there, also as a bit of an extended cameo.

Overall, it's just a great film.  Yes, most of the jokes are a bit, er, 'adult' in nature, so it's probably more akin to a sort of 'American Pie' type film (albeit with more heart and social commentary) than a family film.  Plus it's aged well.  The gags don't rely on (many) 'pop culture' references for laughs, therefore they still stand up well to this day.  I can see the latter teens of today appreciating the silliness on display here just as much as I did when I first watched it.  And, I'm glad to say that now I'm in my forties, I still get as many laughs watching it now as I did back in the nineties when it was first released.

However, I am still yet to see a 'sailboat' in one of those 'magic eye' pictures.  You'll have to watch the film to get that reference.  I hate those 'magic eye' pictures.  I really do.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one