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Mallrats

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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. The movie is set in the Livingston Mall (a real mall). 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
Directed byKevin Smith
Written byKevin Smith
Produced byScott Daniel
James Jacks
Scott Mosier
Kevin Smith
(Uncredited)
StarringShannen Doherty
Jeremy London
Jason Lee
Claire Forlani
Ben Affleck
Joey Lauren Adams
Jason Mewes
Kevin Smith
Music byIra Newborn
Distributed byGramercy Pictures
Release dates
October 20, 1995
Running time
94 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$6,100,000

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.

Plot

Template:Spoiler

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 an uncomfortable place' with her.

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.

Cast

Actor Role
Jeremy London T.S. Quint
Jason Lee Brodie Bruce
Shannen Doherty Rene Mosier
Claire Forlani Brandi Svenning
Jason Mewes Jay
Kevin Smith Silent Bob
Ben Affleck Shannon Hamilton
Joey Lauren Adams Gwen Turner
Renée Humphrey Tricia Jones
Michael Rooker Mr. Jared Svenning
Ethan Suplee Willam Black
Sven-Ole Thorsen La Fours
Scott Mosier Roddy
Priscilla Barnes Miss Ivannah
Walt Flanagan Walt Grover, the Fanboy
Bryan Johnson Steve-Dave Pulasti
Stan Lee Himself
Ethan Flower Doug Paging, Suitor #1
Ed Hapstak Rob Feature, Suitor #2
Brian O'Halloran Gil Hicks, Suitor #3

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:

  • Defective Comics (Jeremy London as T.S. Quint) — A parody of Detective Comics. On the cover, T.S. is trying to escape from a pack of large robots with the help of Jay and Silent Bob and what appears to be a superhero alter-ego of T.S. in a costume similar to that of Mike Allred's Madman. Art by Mike Allred.
  • 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.
  • 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. Coicidentally, Joey Lauren Adams would portray a lesbian on Kevin Smith's next film, Chasing Amy. 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.
  • 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.

All of the covers can be viewed at View Askew website here: Mallrats "Comic Toast"

Trivia

  • in the lost scene clerks x it is revealed that mallrats takes place around 1-2 days 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 read the script and objected to content in the film, subsequently refusing to allow the production to be shot there.
  • Mallrats shares certain cast and crew members with the 1993 Richard Linklater film Dazed and Confused. Joey Lauren Adams and Ben Affleck are cast members who appear in both films while James Jacks worked as a producer on both films. Jeremy London, one of the leads in Mallrats is in fact the younger, identical twin brother of Jason London (who played a lead role in Dazed and Confused as Randall "Pink" Floyd).
  • 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. 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. 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 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.
  • In one scene, a construction worker (played by Walt Flanagan) is being reprimanded by Jared Svenning for placing a podium in an undesirable ___location. T.S. later enters the scene. Both T.S. and the construction worker are wearing almost identical outfits (notably, strikingly similar flannel shirts). On the DVD audio commentary for the film, it is remarked by Jason Lee that Walt Flanagan's character could be mistaken for a heavy metal version of T.S.
  • 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 (the one 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, 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 stated that he had considered a comic book sequel based on the original Mallrats 2 premise.
  • In Dogma, Jay describes the events of Mallrats to Bartleby and Loki.
  • 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.
  • At the flea market ("Dirt Mall"), as Brodie is looking through comics and explaining that T.S. use 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. One of the deleted scenes from Mallrats features Jay directly referencing this when he says, "You didn't see LaFours out there did you? Good... for a minute there, I thought we were in trouble!"
  • 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. Marvel comics and characters were given prevalence over DC ones in Mallrats, largely because of Stan Lee's participation. Three obvious exceptions were
  1. Silent Bob's helmet in "Operation Dark Knight"
  2. Jay's reference to Superman villain Zod after whacking LaFours with a baseball bat and
  3. Brodie and T.S.'s conversation about Lois Lane's ability to carry Superman's child.
  • 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 (a/k/a U.S. #1 Flea Market), 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]
  • A deleted scene featured T.S. driving by the Quick Stop and RST Video complex (filming ___location of Clerks.) en route to Brodie's house.
  • Brodie's house is the same house used as Dante Hicks' residence in Clerks.
  • When Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams) argue outside of a hockey arena in Chasing Amy, Alyssa brings up Mallrats characters "Gwen Turner" and "Shannon Hamilton", the latter of whom videotaped the intercourse with Alyssa. This retroactively adds an element of poetic justice to this film, as it is a videotape of Shannon (played by Affleck) having sex with the underage Tricia that does him in.
  • Additionally in Chasing Amy, Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) brings up Mallrats characters "Brandi Svenning" and "Jared Svenning."
  • The pet store Jay and Silent Bob are first seen near, "Gerbils Gerbils Gerbils," is also the name of the pet store that opens in the Quick Stop/RST Video complex in the 3rd episode of Clerks: The Animated Series.
  • 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). The character reappears in the "Chasing Dogma" comic book series, is mentioned by Alyssa in Chasing Amy (as the "one that wrote the book"), and makes a cameo (alongside Alyssa) in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
  • Willam Black refers to Shannen Doherty's character Rene Mosier as "Brenda" at one point, a reference to Doherty's role on Beverly Hills 90210.
  • In the film, Brodie claims that Superman and Lois Lane would not be able to have sex because Superman's sperm would blow apart Lois Lane's womb. Kevin Smith was later offered to write the next Superman film and he agreed as long as Tim Burton would direct. Burton agreed, but after Burton read Smith's script, Smith was fired and the project underwent development hell. Years later, the 2006 film Superman Returns included a plotline involving Lois Lane's child (which is revealed to be Superman's).
  • 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. The decision to consider Seth Green was primarily one of the studio's rather than Kevin Smith's. Even though the role was originally performed by Jason Mewes in Clerks (and is even heavily based on Mewes) the studio didn't find Mewes a marketable actor and refused to support him early in the process of filming. However, in the film's post-production process, the studio flaunted Mewes' portrayal of Jay in almost every one of the film's advertisements.
  • Brian O'Halloran, who played main character "Dante Hicks" in Clerks., plays cousin "Gil Hicks"
  • On an episode of Boy Meets World, the character of Topanga calls Ethan Suplee's character a "mallrat".
  • Some print advertisements for the film featured a 3D stereogram, an in joke, considering Ethan Suplee's character.

  

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