Mallrats Information

Mallrats is a 1995 romantic comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith and the second to be set in Smith's View Askewniverse series of interlocking films set mostly in New Jersey, although the film was shot in Eden Prairie Center and Osowski's Flea Market which are located in Minnesota. As in the other View Askewniverse films, the characters Jay and Silent Bob figure prominently, and characters and events from other films are discussed. Several cast members, including Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, and Joey Lauren Adams, have gone on to work in several other Smith films. Comic book icon Stan Lee appeared, as did Brian O'Halloran, the star of Smith's breakout feature Clerks.

Plot

The day prior to the events of Clerks; April 9, 1993, college student T.S. Quint is preparing for a trip to Universal Studios in Florida with Brandi Svenning, during which he plans to propose to her; however, Brandi tells him she cannot go because she has volunteered to fill in as a contestant on Truth or Date, her father's dating game show. They argue over this and eventually break up. T.S. turns to his best friend Brodie Bruce, who has also broken up with his girlfriend, Rene Mosier, after having an argument, and Brodie suggests the two might find solace at the local mall.

Brodie and T.S. discover Truth or Date is being filmed at the same mall, and ask local drug dealers Jay and Silent Bob to destroy the show's stage (which they admit that they had already intended to do, after stealing blueprints), a task for which they devise elaborate but ultimately unsuccessful plans. These actions result in the two being pursued by mall security guard LaFours, but they are able to escape him. Brodie finds out Rene began a relationship with his nemesis Shannon Hamilton, a clothing store manager who hates Brodie because of his "lack of a shopping agenda". Brodie confronts Rene to find out more about her relationship with Shannon and the two have sex in an elevator. Rene seems to have some respect for Brodie once more, but the latter is later confronted and assaulted by Shannon, who admits on intending to seduce Rene and then have sex with her in a "very uncomfortable place"; as a running joke, this is interpreted as the "back of a Volkswagen". As a result of this incident, Jay and Silent Bob assault the mall's Easter Bunny, under the wrongful assumption that he attacked Brodie.

Brandi's father, Jared, who is aware of Brodie and T.S's presence at the mall, has the two arrested by LaFours, who tries to plant drugs on them. Jay and Silent Bob are able to rescue Brodie and T.S. and are once again able to evade LaFours. Meanwhile, Brodie and T.S. seek refuge at a local flea market, where they meet local fortune teller Ivannah. T.S. decides to win back Brandi and the two return to the mall. Before the show begins, Brodie receives advice on romance from Stan Lee, who was visiting the mall. After this, Brodie requests that his friend Tricia Jones retrieve footage of her sexual intercourse with Shannon. Tricia herself was doing a project in which she had sex with a number of male adults, despite being only fifteen years old, for a book about the sex drive of men. Meanwhile, T.S. also persuades Jay to get two of the game show contestants high, which allow him and Brodie to replace them on Truth or Date. The initial plan was all three contestants but the third one, Gil Hicks, showed up late, and Brodie and T.S. must go on with him.

During the show, Brandi recognizes the voices of Brodie and T.S., and an argument ensues between the three while being aired as well as being in front of the crowd. Brodie tells Brandi that T.S. had spent all day trying to win her back. T.S. then proposes to Brandi, which she accepts. As the police arrive to arrest T.S. and Brodie after the show is over, Silent Bob (who was setting up a VCR backstage) plays a sex tape of Shannon and Tricia, which results in the former being arrested. Brodie and Rene renew their relationship as a result. The conclusion reveals that T.S. marries Brandi, while the show's producers are so impressed with Brodie's stage banter that they offer him his own talk show, with Rene as his bandleader.

Cast

• Jason Lee as Brodie Bruce
• Jeremy London as T.S. Quint
• Shannen Doherty as Rene Mosier
• Claire Forlani as Brandi Svenning
• Ben Affleck as Shannon Hamilton
• Joey Lauren Adams as Gwen Turner
• Michael Rooker as Jared Svenning
• Jason Mewes as Jay
• Kevin Smith as Silent Bob
• Priscilla Barnes as Miss Ivannah
• Renee Humphrey as Tricia Jones
• Ethan Suplee as Willam Black
• Stan Lee as Himself
• Sven-Ole Thorsen as LaFours
• Scott Mosier as Roddy
• Walt Flanagan as Walt "Fanboy" Grover
• Bryan Johnson as Steve-Dave Pulasti
• Brian O'Halloran as Gil Hicks, Suitor #3
• Mitchell Evans as himself
• Thomas "Longball Dresser" Dahl as Rabbit Hitter, Boy #1
• Aaron Mohr as kid on escalator
• Tyler Purdon as unknown suitor
• Ethan Flower as Doug Paging, Suitor #1
• Ed Hapstak as Rob Feature, Suitor #2
• Art James as Bob Summers, host of Truth or Date
• Malcolm Ingram (uncredited) as grumpy, leaning extra
• Stephanie Bell (uncredited) as Stephanie, concerned extra

Production

After the success of the independent hit Clerks, writer/director Kevin Smith and his best friend/producer Scott Mosier began to make their second film. After a screening of Clerks, producer James Jacks approached them to do another film for Universal Studios. Smith soon finished the script for this new film, and casting began.

Jeremy London, an actor with a TV series and a few films to his credit, was cast as T.S. Shannen Doherty was the most famous cast member after her appearances in many films and the hit TV shows Little House on the Prairie and Beverly Hills, 90210 (there is a reference to the latter when Willam mistakenly calls Rene Brenda). Jason Lee was cast with no prior acting experience; before the film he was a professional skateboarder. Lee has since appeared in all of Smith's films except Zack and Miri Make a Porno and Red State, and is the godfather of Smith's child, Harley Quinn Smith. Affleck, who was a relative unknown at the time, was cast as Shannon Hamilton. Affleck has also appeared in all of Smith's films, with the exception of Clerks, Cop Out, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and Red State. Joey Lauren Adams was cast as Gwen Turner. She would later date Smith, and during that time he wrote the main character in Chasing Amy for her. Ethan Suplee was cast as Willam Black. Mosier was supposed to reprise the role, but Smith and the film's producers were so impressed with Suplee that they cast him instead. The most troublesome role to cast was Jay, as the studio did not want Jason Mewes to reprise his role from Clerks, which Smith had written for him. Mewes had to audition for the part against actors such as Seth Green and Breckin Meyer.

Ties to New Jersey

• Rahway, New Jersey, is mentioned at the end of the film. Rahway State Prison is around 45 minutes from the area where Kevin Smith's movies take place. Rahway State Penitentiary is a prison in New Jersey, which is also where Scared Straight! was filmed.
• At the beginning of the film, Brodie wears a shirt for Henry Hudson Regional High School, a school that Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes attended in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.
• Smith wanted to shoot the film in Seaview Square Mall in Ocean Township, New Jersey, but filmed it at Eden Prairie Center mall in Eden Prairie, Minnesota instead due to lower production costs. Eden Prairie is later worked into View Askewniverse continuity in Chasing Amy.
• The exterior filming showing T.S. and Brodie's arrival at the flea market where Ivannah works was done at the Route 1 Flea Market in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
• Menlo Park, New Jersey is mentioned in the Easter Bunny beating scene. Brodie told Jay and Silent Bob that the Easter Bunny assaulted him because he stated that the "Easter Bunny in the Menlo Park Mall was more convincing." Menlo Park is also mentioned in Chasing Amy, when Holden (Affleck) quizzes Alyssa (Adams) on Jersey landmarks.

Reception

Mallrats was the subject of much critical derision when it was released, with many critics comparing it unfavorably to Smith's first film, Clerks. In his negative review of the film, critic Roger Ebert said "Before Mallrats was released, I chaired a panel that Smith participated in and Kevin Smith cheerfully said he'd be happy to do whatever the studios wanted, if they'd pay for his films. At the time, I thought he was joking." Kevin Smith responded by apologizing for Mallrats at the 1996 Independent Spirit Awards, though he later stated that the apology was made in jest. Nevertheless, the film developed a strong cult following after it was released on video. Rotten Tomatoes maintains Mallrats with a 54% Tomatometer rating.

The film did not fare well at the box office, grossing only $2,122,561 with an additional $331,916 in Spain for a total of $2,454,447, on a $6 million budget.

Home media

A DVD was released in 1999 including 1.85:1 Anamorphic widescreen picture & 5.1 Dolby surround sound bonus features include:

• Audio commentary with director Kevin Smith, cast members Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, and Jason Mewes, and producers Scott Mosier & Vincent Pereira
• Deleted scenes
• Featurette-View Askew's Look Back At Mallrats
• Music Video-Build Me Up Buttercup by The Goops (Directed by Kevin Smith)
• Theatrical trailer

The Region 2 version of this special edition, presumably by error, also contains the complete DVD menus for Carlito's Way hidden on the disc.

Extended cut

In 2005, a 10th anniversary DVD was released, adding almost 30 minutes of footage that were never seen. In addition to the original theatrical cut of the film it features an alternate cut of the movie created specifically for the release, based on an early cut of the film. Included in the previously deleted footage (which is included on the previously released DVD) are several different subplots that were cut out from the movie:

• An alternate opening scene, in which Mr. Svenning hosts a Ball for The Governor of New Jersey. In this scene, T.S. accidentally shoots at the Governor on the roof of a school, which ends up costing Mr. Svenning his reputation as well as a big pay raise. This explains the reason why Svenning shows an intense dislike for T.S. and why Brandi is so intent on breaking up with him. This scene also makes no mention of Julie Dwyer's death, as the theatrical cut did.
• Included scenes where T.S. also makes it known to Brandi that he proposed to marry her.
• A scene in which Brodie and T.S. arrive outside of Mr. Svenning's home, and during the confusion, a news crew records footage of Mr. Svenning doing martial arts in a bath-towel. (Some of this footage was re-edited in the theatrical release in different scenes.)
• A shot that shows the Quick Stop from Clerks.
• A new subplot of Brodie showing intentions of wanting to be on television, which explains his surprised look during his appearance on Truth or Date.
• An extended arrest scene in which La Fours wants to put Brodie and T.S. into jail for an extended period of time, rather than "overnight" when the pair were initially arrested.
• An extended fight scene between Brodie and Shannon Hamilton, in which Hamilton tells Brodie to forget Rene.
• An extended rant from Mr. Svenning, a result of T.S. letting it slip that he intended to propose to Brandi.
• A scene after Truth or Date in which the Mr. Svenning demands to have T.S. and Brodie arrested, but instead he is the one who is arrested. It turns out that since Svenning was the producer of the show, he faces multiple FCC fines for Brodie's antics.
• An extended "Where are they now?" ending sequence, in which Mr. Svenning is revealed to finally get a job at the network as a janitor and a shot of Shannon Hamilton screaming after his rape in prison.
• A scene that showed Tricia flirting and having sex with LaFours in order to distract him from catching Jay and Silent Bob. This explains the final segment in the 'where are they now' ending sequence, showing LaFours kissing Tricia during the book signing.

In addition, some of the dialogue had been re-dubbed in the theatrical release, but is restored in this version. (For example, the man who runs up to and is subsequently punched by T.S. outside the mall near the end originally asked if T.S. was the one who shot the governor, whereas in the theatrical cut, he asks T.S. if he was the one who broke up with Brandi Svenning.)

Soundtrack