Review - Mallrats (1995)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. And, sadly, the word came out that actress Shannen Doherty, most noted for her work on such television series as Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed passed away this past Sunday after a long battle with breast cancer. So, in her memory, I'm taking a look at one my favorite movies she starred in: Mallrats. Released in 1995, this was the second film in the career of Kevin Smith, and includes Doherty, along with Jason Lee, Jeremy London, Claire Forlani, Renee Humphrey, Joey Lauren Adams, Ethan Suplee, Ben Affleck, Michael Rooker, and a brief appearance by Stan Lee, and of course Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith as Jay and Silent Bob. 

        The movie sees friends T.S. Quint and Brodie Bruce, both of whom just wound up on the receiving end of a break-up with their girlfriends Brandi Svenning and Rene Mosier, trying to get over the break-ups by hanging out at the local mall. It's at the mall where the guys see a massive stage being constructed. Why? Apparently, later in the day, a dating game show called Truth or Date is set to begin filming that day, and it's the exact game show that Brandi was asked to participate in by her father, Jared, after the previous girl lined up for the show, Julie Dwyer, suddenly died while swimming laps at the YMCA. And yes, it's the same Julie Dwyer that Dante and Randal attended the funeral for in Clerks, which this movie is set prior to. 

        After getting information about the stage from their friend Willam, Brodie and T.S. then seek the assistance of Jay and Silent Bob to keep the game show from happening, and they plan to do so by exploiting a weakness in the stage's construction. Unfortunately, both of their attempts end up screwed up, and Silent Bob inadvertently crashes in on Gwen Turner in changing rooms Oops. As for Brodie and T.S., their day at the mall includes nabbing a snack at the cookie stand, running into Tricia Jones, sister of Alyssa and Heather, and learn of a massive line in front of the comic book store, all because Stan Lee is signing comics. Oh, and Rene started seeing a jerk named Shannon Hamilton, who works at a mall shop called Fashionable Male. 

       Unfortunately, Brandi's father, Jared, sets up Brodie and T.S. to be kicked out of the mall, so that the Truth or Date show can go through as planned, and Brandi will end up with someone Jared finds better than T.S. Brodie and T.S. then head to a flea market, or the "dirt mall" as Brodie calls it, and after getting advice from topless fortune teller (just go with it) Ivanna, T.S. forms a plan to get Brandi back: replace the contestants hand picked by Jared with himself, Brodie, and Jay. How? Send Jay to incapacitate the other contestants by smoking weed with them. Unfortunately, Jay only gets two of the guys, as the third, Gil Hicks, wasn't backstage when the fun was happening. Brodie, meanwhile, gets some words of wisdom from Stan Lee, and has Tricia get her tape of Hamilton, while Silent Bob rigs a VCR to the stage. 

        Okay, so real quick, Tricia Jones, in this movie, is working on a book about the sexual drives of men within a set age range, and will be the youngest author to tackle the subject as she's fifteen years old. And, her research involves having sex with a bunch of guys, and video taping the events. Now, with that out of the way, back to the main plot. So, the game show begins, with T.S. and Brodie filling in for the guys Jay incapacitated with weed, and Gil Hicks being the only one Jared selected for the show. Brandi arrives on stage, and begins to field questions to the three guys, with Brodie cracking jokes and mocking Gil. Eventually, T.S. and Brandi start airing out the situation that led to the day's events, and Brodie speaks up, pointing out that T.S. was pining over Brandi all day, and got his act together when the opportunity to win her back arose. And, in front of everyone in the audience, T.S. asks Brandi to marry him, and she happily accepts.

        As Brandi and T.S. are reunited, Brodie sees a chance to try and win Rene back as well, uses Tricia's tape where she hooked up with Hamilton to get Hamilton arrested for having sex with a fifteen year old. Rene and Brodie reconcile, with Brodie offering to introduce her to his mother. Meanwhile, the network guys that were watching the events of the game show with Jared, opt to give Brodie his own show, much to Jared's chagrin. And, we learn the following: Brodie, despite still living with his parents, took over hosting duties on The Tonight Show with Rene as his band leader, T.S. and Brandi got married after graduation, with the ceremony happening at Universal Studios Florida...on the water where Jaws is set up, and Tricia's book was a New York Times bestseller. And Willam, who had been trying to see a sailboat in a Magic Eye poster throughout the movie, did eventually see said sailboat. 

      Okay, so as his second film after Clerks, Mallrats was seen as a step down for Kevin Smith upon its theatrical release. However, it would go on to have a major cult following. And, for the first Kevin Smith movie I watched and enjoyed, this is a personal favorite of mine. I really enjoyed the duo of Jason Lee and Jeremy London as Brodie and T.S., while both Shannen Doherty and Claire Forlani as Rene and Brandi were fantastic. Michael Rooker's character is easily one of the most dislikable characters in the movie, as is Ben Affleck as Hamilton. 

        This movie is definitely a time capsule of the '90s, and I absolutely love it. So, I'm giving Mallrats a rating of 5/5. Well, I think that I'll wrap up here, but I'll be back this weekend to talk about the new movie Twisters.