This is a niche film. If you can put yourself into the mindset of a 20-something slacker, who has no ambition whatsoever in life, this film may engender some sense of emotional investment in its characters and a sense of identifying with same. However, if this situation is impossible for you, then you will not only not see the humor herein, you will most likely bemoan the time wasted in its viewing.

This is a Jay and Silent Bob flick wherein the two buds are dumped by their gals, subsequently seeking major wound-licking in the mall. It plays like the Revenge of the Nerds, though not as intelligently, nor with the same amount of heart, but with a more modern spin.

If you've of a mind, this can be highly entertaining. If not, don't say you weren't warned.

It rates a 7.2/10 from...

the Fiend :.

After being dumped by their girlfriends, T.S and Brodie decide to head to the mall for the day to forget their worries. But after all the mayhem they manage to get up to in the mall, they just can't get their ex-girlfriends off their mind. So the two team up with the help of Jay and Silent Bob to come up with a plan to win them back. Though, they got the likes of T.S' girlfriend's dad and that of a scummy store manager to overcome before winning back their girls.

Don't you just love the self-loathing, slacker generation! After the huge and promising success that was "Clerks" for director/writer Kevin Smith. Obiviously there was pressure to repeat that winning formula with his follow up. Even though "Mallrats" is a more bigger and polished studio bound production of "Clerks" set in the mall, it just didn't take off at all. It came and went by with little interest. Maybe it doesn't hold that fundamentally cunning humour and smarting realism that made the low budget film "Clerks" originally quirky and fresh. I'm not a big fan of Smith's work, as I've only caught his first three flicks and I still think his third film "Chasing Amy" is the best. But this commercially mainstream project isn't all a failure, because the film still does come up with an entertaining tale of laid-back characters with a muster of jokes set-up in a mall. Definitely much more crass and juvenile are the gags this time and somewhat the humour tries to be funny than naturally being it. But what compensates it is that there was a continuous roll with one after another, so if one didn't work out there's another that would hopefully evoke a laugh. The film is actually made up of little episodes that happen throughout the day with something endlessly popping up and many characters deciding to make a scene. It's all over the place you can say. There are some memorably comical sequences like that of the Stan Lee cameo, the Easter bunny and that of the cheesy date game show. But there's one lewd segment involving chocolate pretzels, which will make you barf.

What makes this quite fun is that of the lively performances of Jason Lee's self-absorbed Brodie and the always reliable pairing of Jay and Silent Bob. Also adding to the enjoyable mess are Shannon Doherty, Claire Forlani, Jeremy London, Joey Lauren Adams, Priscilla Barnes, Michael Rooker and a slimy performance by Ben Affleck. The spontaneous dialog is self-conscious with its referential gags and it's filled with a carefree attitude and pure nonsense amongst the stemming wisdom and frankness. Especially those facts considering that of the mall's customs and the respect it deserves. Heck! I should know, as I had a friend that persistently visited the mall everyday… just to be there for the sake of it. Though, I thought it turned into moralistic babble in the dying stages. But these things don't take away from sarcastic interplay and skits that are generated throughout the running time, even though it really seems like an eccentric melodrama with humorous overtones at times. A nice bubblegum rock soundtrack crops up to mould itself within the context and the camera-work has a professional touch too. The best way to take it is to see it as good undemanding fun!

Smith tried outdoing himself here, but sometimes it doesn't work and it seems more conventional than his other films, but that doesn't stop this from being alluringly amusing and satisfying when you comes to the ending credits.

College student T.S. Quint (Jeremy London) plans to go on a Florida trip with Brandi Svenning (Claire Forlani) but she has to fill in on her father's TV show. They argue and break up. His insensitive friend Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee) gets dumped by his girlfriend Rene Mosier (Shannen Doherty). They go to the local mall and discover that the show is being filmed there. Brodie recruits Jay and Silent Bob to disrupt the show.

When compared to his first film, this Kevin Smith movie is sillier and poorer. Some of it plays like Home Alone. He's never been a visual master and this is very much in that vein. The movie is filled with Smith's love of comics and other childish gags. It's got some memorable characters like Tricia Jones, the teen Masters and Johnson. Jay and Silent Bob have become cartoon characters. Lee and Doherty are trying but London is a dud. If Smith wants wacky comedy, London is the blackhole in the middle sucking the fun out of everything.