Mallrats

This one has some good laughs, but is mainly for the younger set. As you can see in the table below, Kevin's other four films, while generally liked best by teen audiences, score at least a respectable 6.4 with the oldest demographic group. Mallrats fails completely to score with the adult demographic, rated only 4.9 by the 45+ set(about equivalent to one and a half stats from the critics, and the 45+ Roger Ebert saw it exactly that way), and also rated the weakest of all Kevin's movies by those in the 30-44 demographic. On the other hand, it is rated the HIGHEST of Kevin's films by the under 18 set, even higher than the legendary $25,000 cult film, Clerks.

NUDITY REPORT

Joey Lauren Adams shows her breasts in a changing scene.
Priscilla Barnes plays a topless fortune teller.
Michael Rooker is stark naked, filmed from the rear, in the deleted scenes.

IMDb scores (/10)	Age under 18	Age 18-29	Age 30-44	Age 45+
Clerks	8.2	8.1	7.4	6.4
Mallrats	8.3	7.4	6.2	4.9
Chasing Amy	7.7	7.8	7.3	6.8
Dogma	8.1	7.6	6.9	7.1
Jay and Silent Bob	8.1	7.3	6.7	6.4

DVD info from Amazon

Commentary by director Kevin Smith, and cast members Ben Affleck, Jason Lee and Jason Mewes, produces Scott Mosier and Vincent Pereira
Theatrical trailer(s)
More Than an Hour of Deleted Scenes
Making-Of Featurette
Production Photos
Widescreen anamorphic format, 1.85:1

Summary: two immature guys are dumped by their girls on the same day. Hanging out in the mall, the lads conspire to get their girls back, abetted by those two mischievous stoners, Jay and Silent Bob. That's about it in the plot department.

The film has some liabilities. Some of the performances are primitive. Jason Lee is still no Ken Branagh, but he has now at least managed to learn to deliver lines in a semi-plausible way. That was not true in Mallrats, in which his performance is at or below the high school drama level. He is matched for sheer over-the-top ineptitude by Michael Rooker as the evil authority figure. The real strengths of the film are Kevin's jokes, and the usual off-the-wall performances from Smith and Jason Mewes as the ubiquitous Jay and Silent Bob.

The Critics Vote

General USA consensus: two stars. Ebert 1.5/4, Berardinelli 2.5/4

Rotten Tomatoes summary. 47% positive, but 0% from the top guys.

movie review query engine. 63 reviews on file

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. IMDb voters score it 7.1/10

Box Office Mojo. It was released when Kevin Smith was unknown except to the cult following for Clerks. Total gross was only $2 million, on a six million dollar budget.

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, this film would be a C+ if viewed as a "kiddie comedy", but it's rated R! Otherwise, it's a C or C-, a sophomoric middle-of-the-road entry in the comedy sweepstakes. I'm over 45 and I enjoyed it from time to time, especially when Jay and Silent Bob beat the hell out of the mall's Easter Bunny. (It was a revenge hit. Long story.)