"Mallrats" has found a great cult audience, now that it's out on video and DVD, despite the fact that it was a huge bomb at the box office. That's great to know. And of course, Kevin Smith fans adore the film as well. I happen to be one of those fans, and I always enjoy watching this movie. It has many great lines, though in Kevin Smith tradition, sometimes he falls so much in love with his dialogue that it sometimes feels stilted. I still love the film, but I can't deny that the dialogue doesn't always appear natural. But at least the dialogue is intelligent, which something Smith never gets full credit for. Critics and angry audiences spend too much time dwelling on the profane nature of his work, yet there's tons of comedies out there that are profane, but not the damn bit intelligent. Jason Lee gives a memorable performance as Brodie. This is the role he was born to play! He's up there with Jason Alexander when it comes to playing the neurotic best friend. Michael Rooker also seems to be having a lot of fun, playing a great villain. As for Claire Forlani, I can never get over her disastrous American accent. I'm guessing she learned from her mistakes before doing other American films like "Meet Joe Black," "Antitrust" and "Boys and Girls." In all of those films, she seems to pull off the accent without a hitch. I don't understand why the studio tried to cut down on the film's use of profanity. Just another example of a**hole studio execs trying to take advantage of the independent filmmaker. As if we don't see any studio films with strong pervasive language. "Pulp Fiction" was also a Miramax film. 'Nuff said. You know damn well these execs are prejudice against certain filmmakers. I guess they just assume Smith is some young Neandrathal. Eh, screw them. Though I laughed a good deal, I still find the chocolate-covered pretzel gag downright disgusting. But overall this film is definitely worth checking out!
My score: 7 (out of 10)
