Very well executed

Don't listen to the negative reviews

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Mallrats was early in Kevin Smith's career and you can see that the less budget Smith has to play with the better the film is. Set entirely in a mall this film has great characters, a free flowing screenplay filled with snappy dialogues and great direction by Smith. Everyone of Kevin Smith's entourage till then is there in some spades and there are some connections and gags that only a person well versed in Kevin Smith's Universe would understand. This is a great watch.

Smith does have an ear for good dialogue (i.e his first movie Clerks), and when the stars align can make good movies (Chasing Amy). But by the time "Mallrats" came out, this particular style became tiresome. It was like a decently budget movie was made out of material only he and his friends thought was funny. I don't blame the guy for making it (as difficult as it is to get a movie made), but this feels like it was all the jokes not good enough to make it in "Clerks". Like that album a label puts out after the singer is dead. Just tracks that were laying around the studio.

Reviewed July 2010Kevin Smith continues his familiar strait of buddy comedies that doesn't exactly need a plot. His strengths are clever writing that features extended conversations on a given topic and funny wordplays. Even though it comes back to comic books, potty & dirty jokes, there is always a fresh new angle it is looked at each time. Jay and Silent Bob are present here too, but are not as effective as they are in Kevin Smith's other works. Kevin Smith continues his familiar strait of buddy comedies that doesn't exactly need a plot. His strengths are clever writing that features extended conversations on a given topic and funny wordplays. Even though it comes back to comic books, potty & dirty jokes, there is always a fresh new angle it is looked at each time. Jay and Silent Bob are present here too, but are not as effective as they are in Kevin Smith's other works. It is entertaining mostly and features likable but amateurish acting.

Mallrats is an easy comedy with romance as its reason to live. Set almost entirely in a mall and populated by its denizens, we're rewarded by juvenile arguments, pranks and stunts.Shannen Doherty is the big name of the production. She has a supporting role, playing, with a nice ring of truth, a girl who got sick and tired of her looser boyfriend, played by Jason Lee, and dumps him. Lee gives us the best performance of the cast, and with this verbose intensive role made his place on the big screen. Ben Affleck, at that time, was still relatively unknown, and even though this portrayal of an ass hole was right on target, the part was a very small one. The second main character was played by somebody that barely made the grade. His girlfriend was played by Claire Forlani who gave us a good solid performance.The story is interesting, with nice details and interesting plot twists. Even though Kevin Smith got substantially more budget this time around, the film still has an obvious low budget shine to it. Smith is slowly polishing his skills, but has yet to reach full proficiency. The dialogs and original story are is best weapons, and this piece shows that well as each scene is delivered as a verbal dance. Excellent work.Don't take it too seriously, and you'll have lots of fun.