Synopsis:

Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee), a Sega and comic book obsessed college student, and his best friend, TS Quint (Jason Landon), are both dumped by their girlfriends on the same day, and to deal with their loss, they both go to the local mall. Along the way, they meet up with some friends, including Willam, a guy who stares at Magic Eye pictures, desprately trying to see the hidden image; Gwen, one of TS's ex-girlfriends; and Jay & Silent Bob, of Clerks fame. Eventually, they decide to try and win back their significant others, and take care of their respective nemesises (TS's girlfriend's father, and a store clerk who hates the two for not having any shopping agenda).

The Freak's Rating: C- : Dialogue is a difficult thing in scriptwriting, the most important part in fact.  No matter the storyline, if dialogue is cheap and under/overwritten or delivered, the film is ruined.  Kevin Smith wrote one of the most clever films of the 90s in Clerks.  Anyone who has worked as a clerk in any capacity who hasn't seen Clerks should stop reading this review immediately
and rush out to rent a copy.  Dialogue flies out of the characters mouths and perfectly demonstrates the frustrations of working as
clerk...perfectly.  At times during Clerks, the dialogue stretches out to where characters may as well be on soapboxes, but it is tolerable because of its cleverness.

Dialogue is comparable to a casserole.  You need a wonderful blend of multiple elements to pull off a good dish.  Actors signed for Mallrats, Jason Lee (of My Name Is Earl fame), Ben Afleck, Shannon Doherty and others are adequate in ability.  Lines come from the same creative mind as Clerks, Kevin Smith.  The potential on paper was there.  The casserole was overcooked, badly burned in fact and though Mallrats is digestible, especially for a fan of Smith's work, it isn't worthing of a repeat visit.

Smith has publicly said that Mallrats was easily the most disappointing of his films, even offering fans refunds for their movie tickets at comic conventions at one point.  The studio greenlit Mallrats on very little more than the performance of Clerks as a home video release.  It made little in the theaters, but quickly escalated to a popular title on video, making millions.   Overwriting and overdelivery are the failures that sink Mallrats.

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