Mallrats

Back to back follow up "failures" from acclaimed directors. Kevin Smith was praised for his indie virgin flick Clerks. I actually enjoy this second feature more. Oh You Blastphemist!! Shut up, you. This is a brilliant follow up to a brilliant first film. I do think shooting Clerks in B&W was a huge artistic leap and it worked. It ultimately set up Smith for total failure, no matter what his next film was. Unfortunately that film happened to be the brilliantly funny Mallrats. Mallrats follows two friends the day after their breakups with their girlfriends. Their only hope to get over their newly found singularity is to walk the mall. Wander, meander even, but absolutely not buy anything that's not food or drink. Brody (Jason Lee) actually has a tiny bathroom cup he is constantly getting filled with soda for free. Resourceful. They have insanely funny arguments about love and comics. They are constantly dealing with a huge prick named Shannon, a salesman at Fashionable Male clothing store, played by Ben Affleck, who really does a great job at that part. T.S. (Jeremy London) is solely focused on getting his girl back, it does not go well. They do nothing but piss people off all day. A reference to another film that I did not get all those years ago was LeFleur. He was the security guard that wore that funny hat. I did not see Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid until a couple years back, and then it clicked. LaFleur was the man who hunted those boys and he wore the same style of hat. Talk about a tribute. Willem can't see the magic eye picture of a sailboat, Silent Bob uses "the force", and Jay helps accost the Easter Bunny. Plus, we get to see a lady with three nipples. I feel the writing and acting are very real. As for Kevin Smith, it'll be hard for me not to like anything he does..... Jersey Girl is a stretch, but whatever. Michael Rooker adds a nice punch as well. This was the very first film I bought on the new "DVD" format and it cost me $28.99 plus tax back in 2000. Remember those days? Blu Ray is the next generation of high priced films, but in the next year they will be giving those away at $5 each like DVD's are now.

NBM rates Mallrats - Awesome

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