(Warning: the following review contains copious amounts of pop-philosophy and pop-sociology [close kin to pop-psychology] i.e. I am talking out of my a__. Read at your own risk.)

Two recent events converged to bring about this treatise. Initially, there was JuiceJW’s selection of Mallrats for Matt Harney’s under-appreciated movie write off [1]. Second, was the recent release of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Kevin Smith’s fifth and final installment of the “New Jersey saga” that made him famous [2]. Both films received much flak from both critics and fans alike who were expecting sharp wit attached to weighty subject matter like in Chasing Amy or Dogma or at least attached to the iconoclasm of Clerks. However, as JuiceJW points out, Mallrats (and now Jay and Silent Bob) both continue to display Smith’s acerbic wit and clever dialogue, just diverted instead to less weighty enterprise.

In this review, however, I attempt to show that Mallrats is not merely a showcase for Smith’s ponderous perspicacity in dialogue construction, but also the epitome of a movement I introduce here today, a movement my cousin, ronette, and I have coined “post-cynicism.”

On the surface, Mallrats is the day in the life of a disaffected subculture of young New Jersey suburban mallrats. Smith assembles a large cast of feckless twenty-somethings, and their misadventures at the local mall one fateful day. The story centers around two best friends, Brodie (Jason Lee: Chasing Amy) and T.S. (Jeremy London: “Party of Five”) who on the same morning get dumped by their girlfriends named Rene (Shannon Doherty: “90210”, “Charmed”) and Brandi (Claire Forlani: Meet Joe Black) respectively. The pair spend the day at the mall, endeavoring to win back their sweethearts while battling angry security guards, a zealous game show producer, and Ben Affleck. The duo enlists the aid of a veritable side show of memorable characters ranging from Trish the Dish – a 15 year old who tapes her sex life with older men in order to study their behavior for a book she is writing, to the irrepressible Jay and Silent Bob.

Mallrats fundamentally works because of the clever script and sharp dialogue (dialogue that would put the writers at “Dawson’s Creek” to shame [3]), added to this panoply of quirky characters. However, since it is such a great movie, there is much more.

First of all, Mallrats respects the three unities of Greek drama: Unity of Time - the film transpires in the course of one day, Unity of Place - the film takes place entirely in the mall, and Unity of Action - the film revolves around one quest, for Brodie and T.J. to reclaim their lost loves.

Second, the film anchors itself firmly in its time. By centering itself around three motifs: Comics, Video Games, and Star Wars, it firmly establishes a rapport with anyone growing up male in the 80’s. Veritable comic god Stan Lee (creator of Spider Man, the Incredible Hulk, and others) makes an extended appearance, Sega becomes the flash point for Brodie's breakup, while Star Wars is referenced in nearly every scene.

These referential connections are continued in the clever original sound track, where themes arise evoking such pungent musical imagery as that from Godfather, Super Man, and of course Star Wars.

On a less cerebral note (if that is possible), another plus for this movie is the abundant eye candy. In addition to the scrumptious Claire Forlani, Shannon Doherty is at her peak in this film. Doherty partially manages to throw off the (female dog)-y image from “90210” and is sans the scary baggage filled witch/sister in her current incarnation on “Charmed.” Doherty lends to the film’s artificiality by appearing in a new outfit for every scene, and appears cute and perky in each one. Joining these two starlets, is the amazing Joey Lauren Adams who gets to fully strut her stuff in Smith’s third movie, Chasing Amy. You catch a glimpse of her here (including about a half second of frontal nudity). And for the ladies out there, I’m told the guys are all hot too, but I leave that for you to decide.

Post-cynicism

But seriously, what piqued my interest the most with regard to Mallrats, is that it fits perfectly our definition of post-cynicism. I take this opportunity to introduce to the world a new cultural interpretation of the course of the late 20th century as defined by my cousin and me (the greatest team since Engels and Marx) in a soon to be published manifesto (if we ever write it).

Briefly, it is based on the Hegelian dialectic (which I will paraphrase from my reading of the book, Philosophy for Dummies). Hegel explains that progress occurs when an idea, the thesis, meets its opposite, the antithesis, and from the coupling comes synthesis. It is a process based on progress, and it is a process that I apply to recent history.

In the 50’s and 60’s, you had an idealist age. Whether it was “Leave it to Beaver,” or Ike, or Woodstock, idealism in various forms reigned supreme. This came crashing to an end in the 70’s and 80’s, where an era of cynicism was ruled by the likes of “Taxi,” Reaganomics, and hair bands. Nirvana and grunge helped signal the end of all this, as the 90’s have come to represent a new era embodied by the merger of the two. The ramifications are far-reaching, whether in the form of David Brook’s “Organization Kid” (kids today who are scared to rock the boat, driven to achieve, yet have a social conscious) or in our blithe acceptance of the saccharine N*Sync and the unalloyed pub*scent sexuality of Britney Spears (apparently, pub*scent is a bad word in epinions, how pub*scent of them to think way). However, this new era is particularly evident (in the context of this review anyway) in the movie Mallrats. Post-cynicism has arrived.

The world today is a mess of contradictions. The post-cynicist revels in them. The setting of the mall, the centerpiece of Mallrats, is identified by Smith, speaking through Brodie, as a temple to materialism, and yet that is why he loves it. While he patently rejects corporate culture, he embraces the mall, its most tangible manifestation. The characters of Mallrats are deeply suspicious of the world of responsibility and adulthood and yet are eager to figure out how to enter it.

Love, the thematic center of the film, is treated both as something beautiful and inexplicable, but also mundane and not worthy of being explained. The self-awareness that the characters show, their disaffected view of the world, and their blithe acceptance of the world as they see it, combine to make Mallrats an excellent example for post-cynicism.

Final Remarks

In the end, is all this a good reason for you to see the movie? I hope not. I hope only I am weird enough to ponder these things while watching a film like Mallrats. Kevin Smith, in making this movie, had zero intention to make you think deeply when he wrote and directed this film. And for this he was panned by fans and critics alike. What they forget is that Mallrats is cleverly written with snarky characters and acerbic dialogue. Altogether, Mallrats makes for one hell of a romp. Go see it, and give Kevin Smith a break.


[for the sake of completeness, three times three equals nine and three to the third power equals twenty-seven] ;)

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NOTES

[1] JuiceJW’s Mallrats review
http://benho.epinions.com/content_31807540868

[2] I saw Jay and Silent Bob the day I got back from Europe, and have no regrets. Yes, it is no masterpiece of film-making, but it was one damn entertaining film. Perhaps it required too much insider knowledge, but that’s what I loved about it. I know it was a film written for me with the line “that’s the dumbest idea since Greedo shooting first.” If you caught that ridiculously obscure reference, you’ll love this movie.

[3] Apparently I’m not the only “Creek” fan. Dawson makes an appearance in Jay and Silent Bob.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD