| Comedy | MPAA:R |
I made some less than encouraging remarks about the big Gen-X film Reality Bites in the review for St. Elmo's Fire (it absolutely tanked ratings-wise when ABC broadcast it earlier this year - I guess I'm not the only one who was less than excited about it). That doesn't mean I don't like some Gen-X films -- I liked Say Anything (which probably qualifies as the first Gen-X film (it has Mother Love Bone on the soundtrack, and even takes place in the Seattle Area)) quite well, and Singles too. Maybe it's because they didn't have an actress I like giving a disappointing performance. I didn't have an opinion about the actors in Mallrats, so I wasn't diappointed.
T.S. is a fairly normal, average, everyday kind of guy. He's in love with Brandi, and was planning to ask her to marry him -- that is, until they have a big fight. His friend Brodie was seeing Rene, but they had a big fight too. So what do two guys with a lot of time on their hands do? Go to the mall of course. Once there, they run into their various and sundry friends -- Tricia, the 15 year old senior who is writing a book called Borgasm, and sleeping around to collect research. Jay and Silent Bob (my favorite character in the film) -- two guys who have even less to do with their time than T.S. and Brodie. They plan on disrupting the Dating Game ripoff show to be televised from the mall, if they can only get past: LeFours -- the legendary mall cop, 66 arrests, 66 convictions, 2 kills. Brandi's dad -- he's the guy putting on the game show, he hates T.S. and is using the show to split the two of them up. Stan Lee -- yes, the Stan Lee, comic book king and reasonably decent actor, and Brodie's hero. Shannon -- the manager of Fashionable male, and general all around jerk, who likes to have sex with girls who have just been dumped in a very uncomfortable place, is trying to make the moves on Rene. Gwen -- T.S.'s ex-girlfriend, who keeps getting barged in on when she's trying things on. Willam -- who is spending the day trying to see the picture hidden in the ever present Magic Eye display. Rene has one last quickie with Brodie in an elevator, shortly before Shannon beats the snot out of him. He tells Jay and Silent Bob that it was the Easter Bunny, so they go beat him up. Brandi's dad tries to get T.S. and Brodie arrested, but with the help of Jay and Silent Bob, manage to escape to the flea market where they visit a topless psychic who convinces T.S. to go back and fight for Brandi. They go back to the mall, where Jay gets two of the contestants in the game show stoned, Tricia goes home to get the tape of her and Shannon doing it, and Gwen tries to smooth things out with Brandi. Her dad has become violently ill (I won't tell you how, because it's rather gross and childish), but vows to see the game show through. T.S and Brodie take over for the incapacitated contestants -- T.S. wins Brandi back, Brodie gets Rene back, and after playing the video tape of him doing a 15 year old girl, Shannon gets arrested. The TV guys aren't interested in a dating game ripoff, but think Brodie would be great. And they all live happily ever after (except for Shannon of course).
Ok, so it's not exactly up to the quality of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, but it's not a bad film. The critics weren't very kind to, especially after the way the oohed and aahed over Clerks (the director (and writer)'s first film. His newest film, Chasing Amy, stars many of the same people (in fact, at the end of the credits, there is a line saying that Jay and Silent Bob will return in Chasing Amy), and has been getting better reviews than Mallrats. But that's ok, this is still an entertaining film, if you have the time.