Kevin Smith’s 1995 ensemble comedy didn’t go down well with most critics, but today it looks more cohesive than it was given credit for at the time and is certainly very funny on occasion. More than ever, the film resembles an intentionally inane version of a Shakespearean comedy, complete with two guys who lose their girlfriends at the same time. They develop a complicated scheme to get them back, aided by a pair of goofballs, and enact their plan in a public ritual involving concealed or mixed-up identities. Jeremy London plays T.S., who plans to take his longtime girlfriend, Brandi (Claire Forlani), to Florida for a break and an opportunity to propose to her. At the last minute, Brandi has to cancel the trip because her father (Michael Rooker), who is producing a live, national television broadcast of a The Dating Game-like show, has asked her to fill in for a contestant who suddenly died. T.S. balks and Brandi breaks off their relationship.
Meanwhile, T.S.' best friend, Brodie (Jason Lee), loses Rene (Shannen Doherty), over his general slothfulness and thoughtlessness. Licking their wounds, the boys meet up at the mall intent on scuttling the TV show. They bump into Rene, who is already dating hunky womanizer Shannon (Ben Affleck) who gives Brodie a beating. T.S. and Brodie enlist stoner knights-errant Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith)—who are always looking for a worthy if idiotic cause—to help them sabotage the broadcast while also exposing Shannon as a predatory cad.
The film’s humor is artfully sophomoric, slapstick, scatological, and screwball as the clock ticks down to the broadcast, where mayhem and deception ensue and love is on the line. Smith was a far better director than almost everyone was willing to credit him for in 1995. Mallrats might look like a simplistic film with its ordinary backgrounds, crude visual jokes, and vignette-style gag comedy. But Smith’s controlled anarchy is deftly handled and certainly gets a viewer on board, rooting for the good guys. Jason Lee stands out in the cast for well-deploying Brodie’s acidic brilliance and, when necessary, foul-mouthed chivalry. Strongly recommended.