Mallrats

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mallrats
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kevin Smith
Produced by	Sean Daniel James Jacks Scott Mosier
Written by	Kevin Smith
Starring	Shannen Doherty Jeremy London Jason Lee Claire Forlani Ben Affleck Joey Lauren Adams Renee Humphrey Jason Mewes Ethan Suplee Stan Lee with Priscilla Barnes and Michael Rooker
Cinematography	David Klein
Editing by	Paul Dixon
Studio	View Askew Productions
Distributed by	Gramercy Pictures Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	October 19, 1995
Running time	94 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6,100,000
Gross revenue	$2,122,561
Preceded by	Clerks
Followed by	Chasing Amy

Mallrats is a 1995 film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It is the second to be set in Smith's "View Askewniverse" series of interlocking films set mostly in New Jersey, although the movie was filmed in the Eden Prairie Center, which is located in Minnesota. As in the other View Askewniverse movies, 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 made a cameo appearance, as did Brian O'Halloran, the star of Smith's breakout feature Clerks.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Making Mallrats 2.1 Pre-production 3 Reception 4 Cast 5 Opening credits sequence 6 DVD 6.1 The Version That Never Should have Been 7 Soundtrack 8 Links to Smith's other films 9 Ties to New Jersey 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Plot

T.S. (London) is preparing for a trip to Universal Studios Florida with his girlfriend Brandi (Forlani), during which he plans to propose to her; however, the two have an argument and break up after Brandi tells him she can't go because she's volunteered to fill in as a contestant on Truth or Date, her dad's "cheesy Dating Game rip-off" TV show. T.S. turns to his comic book-loving best friend Brodie (Jason Lee), who has also broken up with his girlfriend Rene (Shannen Doherty), and Brodie suggests the two might find solace at the local mall.

Brodie and T.S. discover Truth or Date is shooting at the same mall, and ask local troublemaking drug dealers Jay and Silent Bob to destroy the show's stage (which they admit they were going to do anyway), a task for which they devise elaborate but ultimately unsuccessful plans. Brodie also finds out Rene is being pursued by his nemesis Shannon Hamilton (Ben Affleck), a clothing store manager who hates Brodie because of his "lack of a shopping agenda," and has nefarious plans for Rene, intending to seduce her and then have sex 'in a very uncomfortable place' with her. A running joke is that this is interpreted as the 'back of a Volkswagen' rather than the anal sex he intends.

Between seeking romantic advice from Stan Lee and debating such topics as the sexual proclivities of comic-book characters and the status of a cookie stand located outside the official food court, the two run into various acquaintances, including a sex researcher who happens to be a minor, and a guy who spends all day trying to see the hidden image of a sailboat in a Magic Eye poster. They also run afoul of Brandi's father, who has the mall security guard La Fours (Sven-Ole Thorsen) plant marijuana on their persons so they can be arrested. In addition to helping them escape, Jay and Silent Bob get two of the game show contestants stoned, allowing T.S. and Brodie to replace them on Truth or Date and woo back their respective exes.

[edit] Making Mallrats

[edit] Pre-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 movie for Universal Studios. Kevin Smith soon finished the script for this new film, and casting began. They cast Jeremy London, an actor with a TV series and a few movies to his credit as T.S. Shannen Doherty was the most famous cast member after her appearances in many movies and the hit TV shows Little House on the Prairie and Beverly Hills 90210. 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 is the godfather of Smith's child. Since Mallrats, Lee has gone on to achieve fame as the title character on the TV show My Name is Earl. Ben Affleck, who was a relative unknown at the time except for appearing in Dazed and Confused, was cast as Shannon Hamilton, he later achieved fame and stared in films such as Good Will Hunting and The Sum of All Fears. Affleck has also appeared in all of Smith's films, with the exception of Clerks and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Joey Lauren Adams was cast as Gwen Turner. She would later date Smith during which he would write the main character in Chasing Amy for her. Ethan Suplee was cast as Willam Black. Producer Scott Mosier was supposed to reprise the role, but Suplee was so good, they cast him instead. Ethan Suplee later also scored a role in My Name is Earl. 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.

[edit] 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."^[1] 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.^[2]

[edit] Cast

• Jeremy London as T.S. Quint
• Jason Lee as Brodie Bruce
• Shannen Doherty as Rene Mosier
• Claire Forlani as Brandi Svenning
• Jason Mewes as Jay
• Kevin Smith as Silent Bob
• Ben Affleck as Shannon Hamilton
• Joey Lauren Adams as Gwen Turner
• Renee Humphrey as Tricia Jones
• Michael Rooker as Mr. Jared Svenning
• Ethan Suplee as Willam Black
• Sven-Ole Thorsen as La Fours
• Scott Mosier as Roddy
• Priscilla Barnes as Miss Ivannah
• Walt Flanagan as Walt Grover, the Fanboy
• Bryan Johnson as Steve-Dave Pulasti
• Stan Lee as Himself
• Brian O'Halloran as Gil Hicks, Suitor #3
• Mitchell Evans as himself
• Thomas 'Longball' 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

[edit] Opening credits sequence

This article may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (March 2009)

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (March 2009)

The opening credits sequence features a number of comic book covers based on characters that appear in the film. The covers appear next to a corresponding character parodied in the credits. Many of these covers make references to existing comics. They appear in the film in the following order:

• New Jersey Mall 07732 (Shannen Doherty as Rene Mosier) — The logo bears resemblance to that of Beverly Hills 90210 (a television program for which Shannen Doherty is known) although the overall style of the cover is very akin to that of Image Comics. 07732 is a Zip code for Highlands, New Jersey. Art by Jae Lee.

• Defective Comics (Jeremy London as T.S. Quint) — A parody of Detective Comics. On the cover, T.S. and Mike Allred's Madman are trying to escape from a pack of large robots with the help of Jay and Silent Bob. Art by Mike Allred.

• Brodieman (Jason Lee as Brodie Bruce) — The logo and the emblem on the shirt "Brodieman" is wearing are both reminiscent of Superman. The cover also features elements similar to The Hulk and Marvel Comics. Art by J. Scott Campbell.

• Brandi - The Last Babe on Earth (Claire Forlani as Brandi Svenning) — On this cover, Brandi is escaping from what appears to be a shark emerging from molten lava. This is a parody of Kamandi - The Last Boy on Earth.

• Buttman Adventures (Ben Affleck as Shannon Hamilton) — The logo is a parody of logos for various Batman comics. Art by Kirk Van Wormer.

• Gwen (Joey Lauren Adams as Gwen Turner) — A parody of Gen¹³. Art by Adam Hughes.

• Weapon Sex (Renée Humphrey as Tricia Jones) — A parody of Weapon X, a comic featuring Wolverine of the X-Men series. Various sex toys are seen on the cover while the Tricia character is sporting gloves with claws parodying Wolverine's. The book Boregasm is also featured.

• Legends of the Dork Knights (Jason Mewes as Jay) — A parody of Legends of the Dark Knight, a Batman comic. Both Jay and Silent Bob are featured along with Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti's creator owned character Ash (comic). Art by Joe Quesada.

• The Incredible Bulk (Ethan Suplee as Willam Black) — A parody of The Incredible Hulk. Willam's character is shown crashing through a wall, holding a Magic Eye poster titled "Sailboat". Art by Dave Johnson.

• Adventures of The Man (Stan Lee as Himself) — A play on "Stan the Man", with the word "Man" done in a similar font as on X-Men comics, also created by Lee. Stan's feet appear to be similar in design to the Spider-Man costume. Art by Chuck Frazier.

• The Fantastic Two (Priscilla Barnes as Miss Ivannah) - A parody of The Fantastic Four. On the cover are also Quint and Brodie.

• Angry Pop Comix (Michael Rooker as Mr. Jared Svenning) — Mr. Svenning is seen as an armor-clad warrior holding the skull of T.S. as Brandi stands in the background, shocked that he has added T.S. to his collection. Art by Ethan Van Sciver.

All of the covers can be viewed at View Askew website ^[3]

[edit] DVD

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)

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

• Audio commentary with Director Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, 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.

[edit] The Version That Never Should have Been

In 2005 a tenth anniversary DVD was released. 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 is 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 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 newscrew 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 Quickstop store 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. making 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 Jones flirting and having sex with La Fours 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 La Fours 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.)

[edit] Soundtrack

The Mallrats soundtrack features many popular Alternative Rock bands from the mid-90's, including Bush, Silverchair, and Sponge.

Track	Song	Band
1	Love and Sharks
2	Bubbles	Bush
3	Susanne	Weezer
4	Freeing One's Mind
5	Seventeen	Sponge
6	Kryptonite Condoms
7	Line Up	Elastica
8	Mission Impossible #1
9	Mallrats	Wax
10	Taken with a Grain of Salt	Shannon Doherty
11	Broken	Belly
12	Cruise Your New Baby Fly Self	Girls Against Boys
13	Very Uncomfortable Place
14	Guilty	All
15	That Ski Trip
16	Front	Archers of Loaf
17	Hated It	Thrush Hermit
18	Post Coital Techno Boogie
19	Build Me Up Buttercup	The Goops
20	Cousin Walter
21	Social	Squirtgun
22	Mission Impossible #2
23	Smoke Two Joints	Sublime
24	Stoned	Silverchair
25	Last Word

[edit] Links to Smith's other films

This article may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (March 2009)

• In Clerks: The Lost Scene, it is revealed that Mallrats takes place one day before Clerks.
• At the U.S. Route 1 Flea Market ("Dirt Mall"), as Brodie is looking through comics and explaining that T.S. used to be a "stand up guy", T.S. tries on a black cap that reads "Clerks". Standing next to Brodie and T.S. as the hat is tried on is Kristen Mosier, sister of producer Scott Mosier and former girlfriend of Kevin Smith. Smith has also noted on several occasions (including the Mallrats DVD commentary), that Kristen Mosier was the inspiration for Rene Mosier, Shannen Doherty's character. The Clerks hat in the scene is one of four made during the production of that film by Kristen (the hats can be seen frequently in Clerks production photos).
• Ethan Suplee plays Willam Black in this movie, a role originally played by producer Scott Mosier in Clerks. In the continuity of the View Askewniverse, Kevin Smith refers to this as the "Willam of Two Worlds" phenomenon, in reference to DC Comics's multiple universes.
• As in his previous film Clerks, Kevin Smith cast his childhood friend Walt Flanagan in multiple roles. In Mallrats, he appears as Walt Grover, the "Fanboy", and in an uncredited role as one of Svenning's construction assistants (wearing similar wardrobe to T.S.). Jay also remarks that La Fours is "faster than Walt Flanagan's dog" after he and Silent Bob are chased to the food court.
• Trish "The Dish" Jones (Renee Humphrey) is one of the three View Askew series' infamous "Jones sisters" (the others being "Heather Jones" from Clerks and "Alyssa Jones" from Chasing Amy).
• Brian O'Halloran, who played main character "Dante Hicks" in Clerks, plays cousin "Gil Hicks", one of the contestants on the Truth or Date game show at the end of the film. He would also play TV reporter Grant Hicks in Dogma, and TV Executive Jim Hicks in Chasing Amy.
• In episode three of Clerks: The Animated Series, the window of the pet store says Gerbils Gerbils Gerbils, just like the pet store in Mallrats. In that same episode, Steve-Dave and Fanboy make an appearance.
• At the end of the film, during the "Where are they now?" segment, Jay and Silent Bob are shown walking down a highway with an ape, named in the credits as Suzanne (the song played over the credits is "Susanne", by Weezer). This storyline is played out in the Jay and Silent Bob comics and is a major part of the Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back plot.
• The Eden Prairie Mall used in the film actually exists in Minnesota, but the film suggests that it exists in New Jersey. The mall is later referenced by Alyssa Jones in Chasing Amy.

[edit] 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.^{[citation needed]}
• Brodie wears a shirt for Henry Hudson Regional High School, a school that Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes attended in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.^[4][5]
• Smith wanted to film the movie 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.^[6] Eden Prairie is later worked into View Askewniverse continuity in Chasing Amy.

[edit] References

Additionally, the 3-dimensional image which was supposed to reveal a sailboat actually reveals an array of shapes including a star, a sphere etc

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mallrats

• Mallrats at the Internet Movie Database
• Mallrats at View Askew Productions
• Official Universal Pictures site for the 10th anniversary DVD
• The Spoilers Alternate DVD Commentary of Mallrats

  

v • d • e Kevin Smith Feature films Clerks • Mallrats • Chasing Amy • Dogma • Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back • Jersey Girl • Clerks II • Zack and Miri Make a Porno • A Couple of Dicks • Red State (pre-production) Comics Bluntman and Chronic • Chasing Dogma • Clerks • Daredevil: "Guardian Devil" • Daredevil/Bullseye: The Target • Green Arrow: "Quiver" • Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do • Walt Flanagan's Dog • Batman: Cacophony Q&A DVDs An Evening with Kevin Smith • An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder • Sold Out: A Threevening with Kevin Smith Cast and crew Scott Mosier • Walt Flanagan • Bryan Johnson • Dave Klein • Jason Mewes • Brian O'Halloran • Jeff Anderson • Matt Damon • Ben Affleck • Jason Lee • Joey Lauren Adams • Jennifer Schwalbach Smith Miscellaneous Filmography • View Askew Productions • View Askewniverse • Clerks: The Animated Series • Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash • Silent Bob Speaks • My Boring Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith • Sucks Less with Kevin Smith • SModcast

Preceded by Walt Flanagan's Dog

The View Askewniverse Chronology

Succeeded by Clerks./Clerks.(The Lost Scene)/Clerks: The Lost Scene