Watched “Mallrats” last night. While I can see how some movie critics wouldn’t like the film, and I can see how Universal tried to get Kevin Smith to make the film too much like “Animal House”, I still thought it was hysterical. Maybe it was just having grown up in that “Jersey Mall Culture” Smith managed to capture so perfectly. Maybe it was seeing Jay and Silent Bob kick the crap out a mall Easter Bunny. I dunno.
One question, though – and I guess this is better asked of whoever scouted locations for the film as opposed to Smith himself, but I just have to ask it…
Minnesota? They had to go all the way to Minnesota to find a suitable mall to use for the film? Drive in any direction from the center of Red Bank, NJ, and within 30 minutes you’ll hit a major shopping mall (Freehold Raceway Mall, Woodbridge Center, Monmouth Mall, etc.).
I knew something didn’t feel quite right about the locations when the film started, and there’s my reason.
I mean, Minnefreakin’sota? They didn’t even bother to change the name on the mall to something more Jersey-centric than “Eden Prairie Center”…