*½/**** (Theatrical)
*/**** (Extended)
Image A Sound A Extras B
starring Shannen Doherty, Jason London, Jason Lee, Claire Forlani
written and directed by Kevin Smith
by Travis Mackenzie Hoover Some people think Tarantino epitomized the '90s, but really that (dis)honour goes to Kevin Smith. Single-handedly affirming everything our elders said was wrong with our generation, Smith has continually built shrines to his ignorance, his insularity, and his total lack of interest in the nature of his problems. And his problems, as demonstrated by Mallrats, are impossible to ignore, as they take a group of hateful or tedious boors and treat them with such kid gloves as to defeat the whole purpose of drama, cinema, or just plain good times. Saying that Smith was never a terror with the camera will only lead to a dead end, but returning to the slacker decade's constant pop-cult referencing and "witty" misogynist invective makes one glad that the millennium did, in fact, turn into a new and better-dressed century.
Predictably, the whole thing revolves around "relationships"–that is, the recent break-ups of friends T.S. Quint (Jeremy London) and Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee), the former losing to an overbearing father and the latter to his own self-absorption and hatefulness. Their respective exes, Brandi (Claire Forlani) and Rene (Shannen Doherty), are probably better off, but that doesn't stop our heroes from trying to win them back–and at the mall, both are going to have their chance. However, there will be interludes, including the unavoidable meddling of Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Smith), a barrel-chested blockhead obsessed with a 3-D 'magic eye' poster (Ethan Suplee), and obnoxious men's-store owner Shannon (Ben Affleck), who introduces a crisis when he announces his intentions to seduce and sodomize Rene. Do you want fries with that?
Training the camera on those bitter kids we once were isn't a bad idea if you have some game plan for discussing them, but the film is all about bragging rights. There's a sense of "Yeah! One for our team!" in Mallrats' uncritical treatment of its protagonists, who don't really have much going for them. T.S. gets off with barely passing marks, though he's such a blank that he doesn't exactly scream prime boyfriend material; the angry, hostile Brodie is, on the other hand, the least likely candidate for heroism in a motion picture. He's selfishly obsessed with his comic book collection and can be astoundingly vile as the topic turns to women (ask him about the time he farted during oral sex), and though he's vaguely self-flagellating late in the game, it doesn't excuse the picture blindly dismissing his transgressions. That T.S. consents to hang out with him can only cast doubt on his claim to acceptability.
Admittedly, these knobs closely resemble a lot of people who traversed the '90s, but the film places them on a pedestal they're not motivated enough to climb themselves. Then there are the attendant paranoid, masculine attitudes on the order of fearing to bend over in the boy's shower: though there's a little patronization of the long-suffering ladies, most of the supporting female characters are like T.S.'s promiscuous ex, Gwen (Joey Lauren Adams), or the 15-year-old sex researcher (Renee Humphrey) whose illegal activities provide the film's deus ex machina. Frustrated male sex fantasies also share space with flat and witless pop-cult references (a phrase I cringe as I write): Silent Bob is trying to use the Force! And wears a Batman mask while engaging in sabotage! Stan Lee has a cameo! Somebody calls Doherty "Brenda"! (Lest we forget that the two main characters take their names from Jaws.) At least Tarantino cast a wider net of crap–all Smith's been doing is shuttling from Blockbuster to his living-room couch.
What's most depressing about this movie (and its cult ascension after a disastrous theatrical release) is that it has, to quote our parents, no ambitions. Once upon a time Godard summed up his generation in Masculine/Feminine as people interested in things, as people convinced that change was possible and looking to create a future that was better than the past. Nearly 30 years later, Smith summarized his age bracket with people who are interested in nothing, have no opinion on their eventual fate, and will take whatever information is handed them by the flashing box in their parents' den. Whether this is Smith's fault or a bellwether of the era is up for debate, but Mallrats' intellectual lethargy is nothing I want to remember about myself.
THE DVD
Like a terrible nightmare come true, Universal has rewarded the film with a brilliant transfer and sparkling audio that it simply doesn't warrant or deserve. The 1.85:1, 16×9-enhanced image is very sharp and superb in its modulated saturation: colours are neither washed-out nor unnaturally bright, and fine detail is remarkable. (Gone is the 'screen door' artifact of the previous transfer.) The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is even more surprising, unearthing all manner of cues and details to flutter through the soundfield; separation of the fronts defies the lack of creativity in the film proper. The "10th Anniversary Extended Edition" extras break down as follows:
Side A
Feature Commentary
Smith, producer Scott Mosier, cast members Lee, Mewes, and Affleck, and "View Askew Historian" Vincent Pereira weigh in on the production. This seems to have been recorded for the '99 disc, as references to Meet Joe Black and "Shannen's new show 'Charmed'" abound and Lee is constantly ribbed for being "Chasing Amy's Jason Lee." It's all chummy and jokey, but it doesn't provide any hard information beyond the usual it-was-cold and the-product-placements-happened-like-this variety.
"A Brief Q&A with Director Kevin Smith" (9 mins.)
Smith hilariously burlesques the DVD interview format, responding to a bunch of absurdly leading questions regarding his feelings on the new DVD release by extolling the disc's non-biodegradability, how he masturbated through the extended version's recut, and how the new footage of Affleck's prison rape will ensure a blowjob from your significant other. Childish, but pretty funny.
"View Askew's Look Back at Mallrats" (22 mins.)
Also done for the '99 release, this features a fairly soup-to-nuts exploration of the production. Covered are the film's pitch as a "smart Porky's," Mewes's near-firing by nervous studio bigwigs, the bungled marketing campaign, and its box-office failure. Unfortunately, the piece is also pretty uncritical, with a lot of Kevin-was-dreamy comments and rationalizations for the film's tanking at the turnstiles.
"The Erection of an Epic: The Making of Mallrats" (21 mins.)
Did somebody say "rationalization"? This non-making-of featurette is pretty much a bunch of stunned participants wondering how the film could have bombed and offering many high-flown theories on its resurrection as a cult item. It's mutual-admiration society time, marked by precious little production info and a fascinating plunge into group denial.
Cast Interviews from the Original Set (9 mins.)
Principals Lee, London, Affleck, Doherty, Forlani, and Michael Rooker weigh in on their reasons for participating, all of which are more articulate and credible than any of the post-facto theorizing. Forlani seems the most intelligent, while the rest of fail to note the fact that their considerable talents were sadly wasted.
"Build Me Up Buttercup" Video (3 mins.)
The Goops' cover version, featuring Jay and Silent Bob doing "typical music video" behaviour, thoughtfully written out on cue cards. Oh, and footage from the movie.
Rounding out side one: a 9-minute outtakes reel; an interminably long photo gallery feature; and the trailer.
Side B
Mallrats: The Extended Version (123 mins.)
Whatever else can be said about 'Mallrats 1.0', it was tight, pacey, and as well-cut as a film consisting of master shots can be. But as an 11-minute intro with Smith and Mosier informs us, money and curiosity got the better of them, meaning editor Paul Dixon's work has been replaced by this, so help me, "first assembly" of the film. A subplot in which T.S. is mistaken for the Governor's assassin is the main addition, giving the film more traumatic weight than it can support, but mostly it just drags scenes out for eternity and turns a short sharp shock into a beating from a bouncer.
"Mallrats: The Reunion" (50 mins.)
The most entertaining thing on this disc. Smith, wearing what appear to be the largest clamdiggers ever created, trots out producers Mosier and Jim Jacks, DP David Klein, and cast members Lee, London, Mewes, Ethan Suplee, and Renee Humphrey for a post-screening Q&A. Really this is Smith's show: he cuts up about how much fun they had and offers a hilarious recounting of the early grosses. Lee seems the most disturbed by the film's failure and doesn't like his performance as Brodie, while Mewes offers many a humorous interjection and a slimmed-down Suplee deadpans fairly well. Response to a flighty French questioner is the highlight. And in so saying, he passed on to other things.
96 (T.V.)/123 (E.V.) minutes; R/NR; 1.85:1 (16×9-enhanced); T.V.: English DD 5.1, French DD 2.0 (Stereo), Spanish DD 2.0 (Stereo), E.V.: English DD 5.1; English SDH, French, Spanish subtitles; DVD-18; Region One; Universal
