Mallrats (1995)

There's a version of me, aged about seventeen, who would tell you Mallrats is an absolute classic. Sarcastic one-liners flying left and right, two blokes wandering a shopping mall in heartbroken, comic-book-obsessed chaos, and a climax involving a game show that has no right to be as entertaining as it is. That version of me wasn't wrong, exactly. But revisiting it now, with a bit more life behind me, I'll be honest: it's alright. Genuinely alright. Not a disaster, not a classic. Just... alright.

And there's something worth saying in that, because Kevin Smith films tend to polarise people in ways that are often more about timing than quality. When you first find the View Askewniverse as a teenager, it feels like a secret handshake. All those long, rambling conversations about comic books and sex and absolutely nothing, the slacker philosophy worn like a badge of honour, the sense that the cool kids are actually the misfit nerds who quote Stan Lee and hang around doing sod all. It felt like your world being reflected back at you. Coming to it fresh as an adult, or returning to it after years away, you start to see the joins.

What still works, genuinely, is Jason Lee as Brodie. He's furious and pathetic and oddly magnetic, channelling his heartbreak into increasingly unhinged arguments about superheroes and escalators, and there's a real comedic commitment there that holds the film together when it threatens to drift apart. The ensemble around him has its moments too, and the "trial by game show" finale has a ridiculous, wholehearted sincerity that kind of wins you over despite yourself. Smith clearly loves these characters, and that affection comes through even when the script lets them down.

But let's be straight about the problems. The plot is essentially just an excuse to shuffle characters from one shop to another. A lot of the humour hasn't aged particularly well, and some of it lands with a thud that you might not have noticed at seventeen. It drags in the middle. Long conversations that once felt sharp now feel like they needed a trim. What read as philosophical at the time now reads as juvenile, or at best contrived. The film mistakes chattiness for wit on more than one occasion.

It doesn't have the heart of Clerks (1994). That film had a rawness, a genuine working-class frustration powering it, that made it feel real even when it was ridiculous. Mallrats swapped the black-and-white grit for colour and a bigger budget, and in doing so lost some of what made Smith's voice feel urgent. It's shinier and sillier, and that's fine up to a point. But it also means there's less underneath when you press on it. I've got a lot of affection for where this universe went, particularly Chasing Amy (1997), which managed to find genuine emotional weight while keeping the same pop-culture-drenched voice. Mallrats never quite reaches for that.

What it is, unapologetically, is a product of mid-90s Gen X mall culture. Aimless, self-aware, powered by pop culture obsession, and deeply comfortable with going nowhere slowly. As a time capsule of a very specific moment in American slacker comedy, it's actually quite valuable. As a film that demands your attention in 2025, it's a harder sell.

Three stars. Nostalgic fun if you grew up with it, mildly entertaining if you didn't. Charming, limited, and honest about being both.

Rating: ★★★  | Year: 1995  | Watched: 2025-09-19

View on Letterboxd →

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.

Related on Movies With Macca

More from Kevin Smith: Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019) · Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) · Clerks (1994) · Chasing Amy (1997)
More with Jason Lee: Chasing Amy (1997)
More from the 1990s: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · Blue (1993) · Cemetery Man (1994)
More romance: The Eagle (1925) · The Last Picture Show (1971) · The General (1926) · The Docks of New York (1928)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)