Oh dear lord, this kid and his "observations." At first I thought it was supposed to be funny, but after a while, it just got annoying. He was seriously the most obnoxious character in the movie, so it sucks that he was the lead. The writers really nailed the pretentious, "above it all" high school tool who never goes anywhere without his copy of The Catcher in the Rye and an inflated sense of self-worth. He's so full of wisdom! So deep and enlightened! He's there to put the sheep in their places, since he's the only one who knows what's going on! This is like stoner 2.0, the kind of stuff that these guys think sounds so life-changing, like it's never occurred to anyone else, and their sole duty in life is to redirect the miscreants. I'm still not sure this was supposed to be part of the odd, dark humor that seemed to exist throughout the film. If it wasn't, though, I have to imagine the writers *were* that kid. I didn't know B.K. Cannon was in this movie! I was excited to see her for her brief cameo, despite the creepiness of the scene. Vincent D'Onofrio was fantastic, of course, and his scenes, as painful and uncomfortable as they were to watch, saved a lot of the movie. I feel like the entire bit with the bored housewife should have been cut. It added nothing to the movie and played out more like a clunky attempt to metaphorically represent a boy growing up and coming into his sexuality. The pacing died, and I found myself doing other things with the movie playing in the background. Honestly, if all of that had been removed, it would have been a much better film. Those scenes really dragged, and they were so jarring whenever they occurred, total change in tone and atmosphere. It's like you're in the middle of a car chase scene, then it cuts really quickly to Antiques Roadshow.As much as I hated the beginning with the pseudo-intellectual babble, I actually really liked the ending. That saved it a bit. Overall, the film was trying too hard to be artsy and complex, but it did have some interesting moments and some legitimate humor. I give it a resounding "could have been worse."

The first part of this film hooks you on. Stylish and well photographed, and able to keep you interested. But that doesn't go all the way. The film loses it's way due to some very disillusioned and sick people inhabiting the mall.A disillusioned young man living at home in his mothers trailer goes on a hateful rampage on a mall. At the mall we find several persons doing their everyday thing, as the observant college student Jeff which really is smart, but still wasting his life on the mall, not caring enough not if he should take an Ecstasy pill or not. More shouldn't be told before you watch it.Because I think it's worth seeing. There are some very talented stuff here, though there are scenes pulling down the great stuff built up in the start. It seems like the story is not sure of what it's supposed to tell. There's also too much use of slow motion, and the young boys narrative voice, when thinking.This is the first feature film directed by Linkin Park-DJ Joseph Hahn, and his music video past is quite obvious. Some clear talent, but the film should have had more work put into the script. The film isn't at all what you think it is, and that is a main problem.

UGGGHHHhhhhhh!!! If you have never had the experience of sitting through a 90-minute feature film and as the final credits start to roll, you ask yourself, "WTF, over???" Then boy do I have a film for you.... Director / Musician Joe Hahn braved his first Comic-Con when he was 14 years old. Now 37, the Linkin Park beat maker is making his directorial film debut with "Mall", a movie about a horrific shooting at a shopping mall.Hahn had 18 days to shoot Mall, which focuses on five "disgruntled suburbanites" inside the mall separately, but the narrative is driven by a single person. The movie follows a group of suburbanites who find themselves at a shopping mall in the wake of a random shooting and how their outlooks on life are transformed as a result."Mall" is based on Eric Bogosian's 2001 novel of the same name, and it was slightly altered for the big screen by Sam Bisbee, Joe Vinciguerra and Vincent D'Onofrio. The latter two, respectively, also produced and and acted in the film.Paragon Pictures acquired the North American rights to the film, which comes from a screenplay penned by Vincent D'Onofrio, Joe Vinciguerra and Sam Bisbee, adapted from a 2001 novel from Eric Bogosian. D'Onofrio, best known for his roles in "Full Metal Jacket," "Men in Black," "Ed Wood" and TV's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," will also star in the thriller along with Gina Gershon, Cameron Monaghan, Peter Stormare and James Frecheville. "The script needed a main voice to lead you through the film; Jeff (played by Cameron Monaghan) was chosen as the one because of his character arc in his personal growth and realizations about life." There is a quote in the film where Jeff says, 'I am not stuck, I am unstuck.' In that moment, Jeff chooses his own destiny to not take the easy way out like the other characters in the film."However as the film progresses, it becomes a complete mishmash of ridiculous story lines that may or may not intertwine as the night unfolds. It's almost like "The Breakfast Club" except the five (5) lead characters are as follows: the pervert, the whore, the loser, the killer, and the token black guy. None of whom know each other before the day begins. Throw in four more high school rejects to add mayhem to the story line and "PESTO!"...what you have here is a low-budget Tarantino knockoff-wannabe!!!! And not in a good way either.... Do not waste your time and / or money on this one.See more of my reviews on Facebook @ www.face book.com/TheFarisReel

This is a well-directed movie. It has a good overall sense of emptiness. I think its main premise is to focus on the soul of the person. How the soul becomes vacant, empty, but then full again. Full of purpose, whether it's purpose is going on a shooting spree in a mall. Or bangin a bored housewife. After a while you don't expect any plot twists, it's not about the plot... It's one of those movies where you kind of feel like you're just in this one long moment in time with the characters. I don't like the glamorization of the shooter, or his cigarette smoking. The perspective shots are really cool. The faces start morphing.....into wolves, and other beasts. I like how the one kid (who gets denied by that redhead) is all messed up on e the same time as the shooting takes place. And the kid, he gets told he is so boring...and he really is so boring! lol. It's so excruciating to listen to his dialog. This all makes sense since his soul was empty at that point, a void, lifeless, bound by his infatuation with this girl he doesn't know at all. Overall. a flashy movie, with great impact. You keep forgetting he's on e and then you remember as he's talking to people, and then you remember and it's funny.