The 1995 comedy Mallrats is distributed by Gramercy Pictures and Universal Pictures. Some of its stars include Shannen Doherty as Rene, Jeremy London as T.S. Quint, Jason Lee as Brodie Bruce, Clare Forlani as Brandi Svenning, and Ben Affleck as Shannon Hamilton. The music is composed by Ira Newborn (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off). The director is Kevin Smith (Clerks).
The story is about two boys in their early twenties, T.S. and Brodie. T.S.’s girlfriend Brandi has just broken up with him, as Brodie’s girlfriend Rene has with him. T.S. is angry because Brandi volunteered to be on her father’s game show “Truth or Date”. Rene broke up with Brodie because of his lack of direction in life. T.S. goes to Brodie’s house and together they both head to the local mall to try and forget their pain. They soon discover that Brandi’s father’s game show is to air right in that mall. Brodie employs the services of Jay and Silent Bob to sabotage the stage. Rene is also at the mall with a new boyfriend, Shannon Hamilton, who works at the “Fashionable Male” store in the mall and hates Brodie. T.S. and Brodie wander through the mall trying to figure out what happened with their “significant others”.
Throughout Mallrats, there are many recurring jokes. One is T.S. and Brodie’s friend Willam who spends all his time trying to see a sailboat in a “Magic Eye” poster at the mall. Everyone else can walk by and see it right away, which frustrates Willam. Kids go by and say they see the schooner. Willam says it’s a sailboat, but the kid says a schooner is a sailboat. He responds by saying, “YOU KNOW WHAT? THERE IS NO EASTER BUNNY! OVER THERE, THAT’S JUST A GUY IN A SUIT!” Later on, Stan Lee walks past and sees the boat. Willam finally screams and kicks over the poster stand.
Another recurring joke is with Silent Bob and Batman. Silent Bob dresses up like Batman and flies through the air to knock over the game show stage. Instead he goes head first into the women’s dressing room. Some time later, Jay and Silent Bob are cornered by some security guards. Silent Bob just happens to be wearing a Batman belt. He shoots his rope gun at an overhang and the both of them escape. Also, Silent Bob hangs upside down in a scene later in the film. Whether the last one was done to reference Batman on purpose is unclear, but if it isn’t, it is an incredible coincidence.
Brodie Bruce is, by far, the most interesting character in the entire film. He is a directionless layabout who is obsessed with comicbook superhero sexual organs. He is quite immature for his age and loves to play Sega hockey video games. Brodie tries quite hard not to show how hurt he is when Rene rejects him, unlike T.S. who spends most of the movie trying to figure out how to win Brandi back. The mall is his second home. Shannon Hamilton calls him a “mallrat” because he never buys anything. He just hangs out there.
To wrap, Mallrats has a very specific target audience, high school to college age. If you are not in that target audience, you’ll probably think this movie is one of the worst ever made. If you are in it, you’ll laugh your a** off!