Review of Mallrats (1995) by Brett C — 30 Sep 2014

Review In A Nutshell:

So far in my life, I have seen one Kevin Smith film and it was Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back, which by the way is a childhood favourite; weird right? It stuck on to me all these years, though it has been a while since I have seen it but I guarantee the next time I do get the opportunity to view it, nostalgia would hit me and diminish my ability to rationalise. I do recall seeing Jersey Girl when it came on TV but during then I did not know it was by Kevin Smith and my memory of the experience was quite vague. I did not know what to expect from Mallrats as I wasn't so sure what Smith's style was outside Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back, well it turns out, it is practically the same. This proved to me that the man has his own distinctive style that allows him to stand out from other filmmakers.

Mallrats features a simple story of two guys, who got dumped by their girlfriends, seeks refuge in a mall to solve their problems. Smith's screenplay may lack a sense of substance that would make it like a Richard Linklater film, but his storytelling and sense of humour is so entertaining that I did not care whether or not it had a purpose; kind of like watching a Quentin Tarantino film. Smith provides us with genuine manifestations from our society that other writers would have easily depicted as worthless and weak or would have simply avoided. The characters in this film felt genuine in their construction or characterisation; it provides the audience a glimpse of real lives, exclude the ending, of men and women who possesses a lack of ambition and finds solace in their hobbies; I myself, have been in a position where I lack a sense of direction and instead focus on what many considers as procrastinating as it does not contribute anything to society and selfish. I personally would not want to let go my own personal connection with film in order to satisfy others, but at the same time I would not let it consume and affect other aspects of my life. As one can already tell, I see a lot of myself in the character of Brodie. Mallrats, similar to Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back, features a goal that does not overtake the film's atmosphere. Smith lets the film breathe by providing sequences of regular back and forth chatter that allows character development to be served slowly and in a controlled sort of way; we learn more about the characters as the film goes along but we never seem to notice it, and I think that is what makes Smith's writing so brilliant.

I think one must have a distinctive taste to appreciate Mallrats as it relies heavily on its specific type of characters and diversion from the basic Hollywood narrative. All I can say with this film is to proceed with caution.