Scenes from a Mall (1991)

On their 16th anniversary, a married couple's trip to a Beverly Hills mall becomes the stage for personal revelations and deceptions.

Director:

Paul Mazursky

Writers:

Roger L. Simon, Paul Mazursky

Stars:

Bette Midler, Woody Allen, Bill Irwin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bette Midler	...	Deborah
Woody Allen	...	Nick
Bill Irwin	...	Mime
Daren Firestone	...	Sam
Rebecca Nickels	...	Jennifer
Paul Mazursky	...	Dr. Hans Clava
Gregory Moore	...	Barber Shop Quartet
Michael Brown	...	Barber Shop Quartet
Jonathan Guss	...	Barber Shop Quartet
David Frye	...	Barber Shop Quartet
Joseph Warren	...	Joe Cool & the Coolers (Rap Group)
Brian Warren	...	Joe Cool & the Coolers (Rap Group)
Darrell Mason	...	Joe Cool & the Coolers (Rap Group)
Marc Shaiman	...	Pianist
Augustin Bustamante	...	El Mariachi Bustamente

Storyline

On their 16. anniversary, during a shopping stroll, the lawyer Nick Fifer confesses his wife Deborah some affairs. She goes wild and insists on a divorce. After they agreed to the dividing up of their belongings, Deborah confesses having an affair, too. Now he gets very upset and wants the divorce for his part, but the last word is not spoken yet.

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Plot Keywords:

hare krishna | divorce | lawyer | mall | shopping | 

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Taglines:

A hilarious adventure in marriage, infidelity and bargain shopping!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Woody Allen had never set foot in a mall before filming this movie.

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Quotes

Deborah Fifer: Of course, Nicky-san. Anything for Nicky-san on most honorable anniversary.

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Connections

References The Godfather: Part III (1990)

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Soundtracks

Hurrican
Written and Performed by Passion Play

User Reviews

unfocused comedy doesn't deliver the goods

Director Paul Mazursky is always at his best when satirizing trendy Southern California lifestyles, and he does so here from that most quintessential Southern California setting: the shopping mall, where Bette Midler and Woody Allen break up and reconcile over the afternoon of their 16th wedding anniversary. The windy script was obviously written with Allen in mind, but the New York comedian is just as clearly out of his element playing a nouveau-riche, pony-tailed attorney with a taste for sushi and frozen yogurt. The sheer novelty value of such unlikely miscasting is irresistible, especially with the typically neurotic Allen paired (for once) against a co-star as extroverted as Midler, more or less reprising her role from Mazursky's 'Down and Out in Beverly Hills' (1986). But the film never rises to the laugh-riot level expected from the talent involved: it's a claustrophobic, one-act, two-character comedy, no less thin and shallow than the LA culture it mocks, and often pointless except as a vehicle for its two bankable stars. Imagine the film with two unknown actors in the same roles, and it all but disappears off the screen.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 February 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Scenes from a Mall

Filming Locations:

1652 Woods Dr, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,825,068, 24 February 1991

Gross USA:

$9,563,393

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,563,393

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Silver Screen Partners IV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1