Scenes from a Mall (1991) User Reviews (37)

"Mutual death wish."

[majikstl · 5/10 · 17 April 2004]

Some films make the viewer a participant. Others make the viewer, well, a viewer. Others make the viewer a voyeur. SCENES FROM A MALL makes the viewer a third wheel. A very uncomfortable position to be in.

Like in real life, the third wheel is the poor schmuck who innocently accompanies a couple on a date or dinner or whatever and often ends up being less a companion than a witness, or worse, a referee, when a lovers' spat breaks out. In such a situation, all one can do is to keep looking at one's watch, pretend that there is nothing wrong and, above all else, don't get involved.

When it was announced that SCENES FROM A MALL would pair Bette Midler and Woody Allen together as a bickering couple who spend the day at the mall, I couldn't help but smile. Bette and Woody married, what a great idea. They both seem so different, yet so perfect together. And to their credit, they do have great chemistry here. They click. And they are certainly convincing as a couple with a whole boat load of marital issues. Maybe too convincing. What could have been an amusing thread of a story if interwoven into a larger tapestry becomes instead a tiresome ordeal. Woody and Bette argue and bicker and insult and break up and kiss and make up and argue and bicker and insult some more. Their day-long excursion to the mall to do Christmas shopping becomes an extended primal therapy session. Despite the best efforts of the two stars, what begins as an amusing domestic comedy rapidly become just plain annoying.

The fault lies with writer/director Paul Mazursky, whose films -- good, bad or indifferent -- seldom have a strong focus and tend to ramble shamelessly. It is a style of film-making that, in theory, tries to represent realism, but in practice it violates the conventions of what we accept as film reality -- reelity, so to speak. Mazursky's films always tend to look and feel like rehearsals, not a finished production.

This film has it assets. Woody and Bette, of course. And the recreation of a California mall, mostly filmed on a New York soundstage is quite convincing (though how many malls feature ballroom dancing?). SCENES FROM A MALL looks right and is acted just right, but in the end, this trip to the mall wears you out, leaving you just wanting to go home.

Woody, California style

[Popey-6 · 6/10 · 22 October 2003]

In Annie Hall, Alvy Singer observes that the only cultural advantage of living in California is that you can make a left on a red light. Here. in the thick of it, Woody's character is a committed Los Angelean with designer suits, fast-talking business deals but still with that underlying angst. There's a lot to recommend this relatively stagey effort from Paul Mazursky - the screenplay, the leads and the unique setting - although Kevin Smith has done it better since in Mallrats. What is perhaps missing here is any new revelation or insight into the characters who remain pretty much two-dimensional throughout. It is alas predictable fare but still worth a look for a touch of Woody as he might have been if California had enticed him over.

Frustrating!

[brookey189 · 5/10 · 1 December 2006]

One word that describes the movie for me is frustrating. Though the setting might be a rather original idea, it falls short on the plot and characters. For me, the couple are not convincing. They seem to different, a clingy, weak, uncool attorney married to a strong, manipulative and insightful woman. Whilst, Woody totally destroys any dignity and self respect for himself, Bette, seems to be constantly boosting her ego with more and more manipulation.

Another flaw is that the setting works against it. At times, i must admit they fit the criteria for a realistic approach of those couples who argue at shopping centre's so loudly, the whole idea in itself removes the realism from it. Though this is comedy, the mime, for me is straight up an irritation.

There just seems to be no character development and that's what the whole film has tried to fit into. The plot is written to suit the insight of a couple who play mind games on each other constantly, and for me falls short.

The Opposite of all things Woody

[drosse67 · 26 October 2002]

He lives in Southern California. He spends time in a mall. He carries a surfboard. He wears a ponytail. Is this really Woody Allen, or an imposter? This movie received a critical beating when it came out, but it's really not that bad. In fact, I sort of got a kick out of seeing Woody in this. He is well matched by Bette Midler, who reprises her Down and Out in Beverly Hills character. Director Paul Mazursky, who usually makes either Southern California or Manhattan-set social comedies, brings Woody out to the Beverly Hills that he's trashed in so many movies (the most obvious being Annie Hall), and plucks him into the center of '80s and '90s California consumerism--the mall. The story involves Allen and Midler discussing their infidelities in various mall settings, but the dialogue is merely a clothesline for the idea. It was a hard idea to pull off, but I, being the Woody Allen fan that I am, enjoyed it.

unfocused comedy doesn't deliver the goods

[mjneu59 · 5/10 · 1 January 2011]

Director Paul Mazursky is always at his best when satirizing trendy Southern California lifestyles, and he does so here from that most quintessential Southern California setting: the shopping mall, where Bette Midler and Woody Allen break up and reconcile over the afternoon of their 16th wedding anniversary. The windy script was obviously written with Allen in mind, but the New York comedian is just as clearly out of his element playing a nouveau-riche, pony-tailed attorney with a taste for sushi and frozen yogurt. The sheer novelty value of such unlikely miscasting is irresistible, especially with the typically neurotic Allen paired (for once) against a co-star as extroverted as Midler, more or less reprising her role from Mazursky's 'Down and Out in Beverly Hills' (1986). But the film never rises to the laugh-riot level expected from the talent involved: it's a claustrophobic, one-act, two-character comedy, no less thin and shallow than the LA culture it mocks, and often pointless except as a vehicle for its two bankable stars. Imagine the film with two unknown actors in the same roles, and it all but disappears off the screen.

Quirky little film with great chemistry

[Bracken · 7/10 · 4 October 2000]

I enjoyed this a lot, but more in the way you enjoy a play than a film. I can see how this would annoy some people, but I quite like it when film mimics theatre- for instance, by restricting virtually all the dialogue to two characters, and virtually all the action to one, claustrophobic, location. The plot is slow and unlikely, but the writing is good, and the acting superb. Particularly fine is Midler's murderous side-long glance at the word 'zombies'. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen Allen have better chemistry with his leading lady. So, not a film for laughing out loud at, but engrossing, well done, and fun to watch. Best thing about it: A mime gets punched. Worst thing: Woody Allen in a white jacket and- God help us- a pony-tail.

Too bad IMDb doesn't accept fractions

[moonspinner55 · 1/10 · 18 May 2002]

Someone from Hollywood with a sympathetic heart should gather up all the prints of "Scenes from a Mall" and take a match to them. It would be an act of generosity. This comedy from Paul Mazursky is pretty much an appalling waste of film, and a waste of time for stars Woody Allen and Bette Midler. Allen and Midler play a California married couple 'celebrating' their 16 years together as husband and wife; they share a scene near the beginning in the bathtub, and see if you squirm through it as much as I did. I laughed one time during this atrocious fiasco (where Bette buys a new dress and Woody tells her she looks like his aunt). Otherwise, it's a claustrophobic drag with seemingly no script to fall back on. Everyone is winging it--badly. NO STARS from ****

Not your typical Woody movie, but it goes down easily anyway

[peterkowalski · 7/10 · 9 August 2009]

Even though the movie is pretty much everything that Woody Allen is not, it's still somewhat enjoyable to see him paired with the amazing Bette Midler. The story is interesting to say the very least: it's their anniversary, and Nick (Allen) decides to share a secret. It so happens that they are located in a mall, and the drama is surrounded and contrasted by hundreds of neons, stores, billboards, colors, and excitement. In the midst of all this, a life shared for years is crumbling down, as Nick is not the only one with a secret. The movie, being interesting as it is, has its flaws. The dynamic between Deb (Midler) and Nick is sometimes unbearable as it shifts drastically from one side to another. They are both on two separate rollercoasters, and it's can be annoying. Perhaps the most charming feature is its never-ending symbolism. Every little thing can be interpreted as many different things in the movie, and I don't think the movie should be taken in as it is. There are many interesting aspects in the movie, and as always, Woody Allen delivers with his almost-there-over-the-top performance. All in all, it's probably not the easiest and not the best thing Allen has been a part of, but it's still worth it to see him yelling and talking about sex...because it always is.

OK... Was that Necessary?

[spencer10 · 2/10 · 28 December 2006]

I happened to rent Scenes From A Mall one time at a video store. The box made it look hilarious and I thought how could you beat a couple like Midler and Allen? But then I popped it into the VCR and was very disappointed. It dragged, it was incoherent, and an 87 minute movie made it seem like three hours. Midler and Allen go to a mall somewhere in L.A. for a wedding anniversary, while they are there Allen confesses to Midler that he has been having an affair with another woman. Midler then wants to file for a divorce but soon confesses to Allen that she has had an affair with another man. It is not a bad storyline but it just drags and leads to nowhere. The profanity level and sexual content is also unnecessary. I would say if you want to experience something like this go spend 87 minutes in a mall. But don't watch this because you will be very disappointed. It is a very unnecessary film.

A good film, though dragging at times

[mattymatt4ever · 7/10 · 8 January 2003]

I'm a big Woody Allen fan, so naturally I got a sufficient amount of laughs from the film (though he didn't write the script). But the movie plays out like a stage play, and perhaps it would've worked better that way--like any movie that centers solely on 2 characters. Allen and Midler have a fine chemistry, and their banter is often amusing. But the infidelity thing seemed to have been thrown in as a simple way to develop some sort of plot and some sort of conflict. Are they gonna break up for good? Are they gonna decide to stay together? Those who've seen films like these won't have a tough time figuring the outcome.

"Scenes from a Mall" is funny, harmless entertainment, but not exactly a must-see.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

It was okay, I guess

[nickdolan-532-94062 · 5/10 · 18 November 2012]

-Contains some mild spoilers-

Whether or not you like this movie seems to hinge entirely on whether you're a fan of Woody Allen's neurotic stand-up persona. I'm a casual fan so I thought it was alright. Nothing horribly wrong with the movie except for that stupid mime. When he get's what's coming to him towards the end of the movie I came close to standing up and cheering, and the lighthearted glory of that moment almost made up for the soul-grating awfulness of every other moment the mime is on screen, which is too significant to discount. Also it feels about ten minutes too long, even for its short length; the movie mainly focuses on Allen and Middler's relationship, and the chemistry between them is perfectly adequate for an old stereotypical Jew-y couple, but the cycle of love and hate between them goes on for too long.

Deserves a Second Chance

[ags123 · 8/10 · 18 January 2022]

Like many viewers, I was underwhelmed by this film in 1991. Thirty-one years later, I'm pleasantly surprised how good it is. Maybe age has something to do with it, both mine and the film's. Bette Midler and Woody Allen turn in great performances. Suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the bright, quick-witted repartee.

Effective vehicle

[Gyran · 6/10 · 29 October 2001]

Allen and Bette Milder play a couple visiting a shopping mall on their 16th wedding anniversary. They confront each other's infidelity and then they make up.

This is an effective vehicle for Allen and Midler who go well together. In their grotesque sex scene you do not know whom to feel more sorry for. Director Paul Mazursky's plot is fairly mechanical and predictable but it is a good conceit to have virtually the entire film take place in a shopping mall.

A total waste of 2 stars' time.

[mdm-11 · 2/10 · 21 May 2005]

Woody Allen and Bette Midler play an affluent married couple with teenage children. He is a lawyer, she a celebrated psychiatrist with a bestselling book. The two stars cover about 80% of the picture either talking to each other, an unseen person on the phone or themselves. They could not appear any more selfish, superficial than perceived here.

On their 16th wedding anniversary (with big plans for a celebration) both confess to the other their affairs. Halfway into the film, I wanted them to get a damn divorce and get it over with. These two quickly turn from annoying to totally unbearable. Only one thing would be worse than watching this nonsense: Being one of the two characters. Sad! Allen and Middler are Superstars who need not waste their talents on such stupid material. Are they selling out, or why would they do this to their solid fan base? Please, don't offend my intelligence like this ever again!

Not enough commitment.

[sibisi73 · 3 May 2002]

Like a stale marriage, after about half an hour you might feel like retaking your vows with this one, because although it starts well enough, the fire soon dies down. The two leads are great, sparking off each other and generally giving all they've got to these two-dimensional characters. But there's only so many one-liners you can take before you realise that there isn't actually anything happening. It's an interesting idea, and worth a look, but with the credentials of those involved you'd expect to get more for your money.

How Do You Screw That Up?!

[jzappa · 3/10 · 22 October 2008]

This is a "comedy" that pairs two of the funniest, fieriest Jewish comedians alive. It is about a bickering married couple that works out all their marital problems during a trip to the mall. Sounds great! Get to work. Wait. What is this? This is crap! Fix it! What? You can't? You already filmed it with a second-rate crew in just the past couple of days? What the hell is wrong with you?!

I can understand it if Paul Mazursky wasn't as successful as one would think with this film because he didn't want to make the screwball comedy that everyone would expect, but what is so pathetic about this is that there are many moments where the film truly does believe it is being funny, such as the scenes with the irritating mime.

Like most modern marriages, after about half an hour you might really want to reconsider your vows with this film, because although it starts blandly enough, you still feel that you can expect the laughs to start piling up, but they never ever do. Not once. Bette and Woody aren't even very good. What do they have with which to work? They can't spark off of one another in spite of generally giving as much as they can to these two-dimensional characters.

Overall, this is quite an unnecessary film, a contrived effort to cash in, but with no juices at all except the anticipation of having Bette and Woody in the same film. It's almost unbelievable how bad it is. I understand if one does not trust the almost unanimous bashing this film gets until one actually sees it, because I am guilty of this. Woody Allen, as a writer and director, has never made a bad film. Even his worst film is twice as good if not more than this waste of talent.

Celebration and Confessions

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 2 November 2020]

In Los Angeles, the upper class lawyer Nick (Woody Allen) and the psychologist Deborah (Bette Midler) are married with children and successful in their professions. On the day of their 16th anniversary of marriage, their children travel with their friends and Nick and Deborah go to a mall in Beverly Hills to bring Japanese food to have dinner at home with some friends and exchange gifts. Nick buys the book written by Deborah and reads a chapter where she writes the marriage should be renewed every now and then and decides to confess his affairs to her in the beginning of a troubled afternoon in the mall.

"Scenes from a Mall" is a comedy with a promising storyline that fails in the last part. The plot is funny until the moment that Deborah confesses that she has an affair with her mentor. However there are good moments and worth watching this film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Cenas em um Shopping" ("Scenes from a Mall")

Tedious

[filmbuff1970 · 1/10 · 29 May 2002]

This is such a bad movie. Its simply not funny. Watching two people bickering around a mall has to be one of the poorest excuses for a movie. Both Allen and Midler play two very boring people that you lose interest only 10 minutes in.A Turkey. 1 out of 10

Pony Tail

[AllanpRussell · 6/10 · 20 May 2012]

Woody Allen with a pony tail.

Need I say more.

Allen is a gifted filmmaker. I am currently trawling his oeuvre, and to be fair there has not been a film I couldn't watch (although Interiors did tax me) This is better than most actors bad films, and has a nice premise, moving in and out of a divorce as infidelities are admitted.

It has Bette Midler. It is one of her better films (The Rose apart, that is not saying much, and I love Bette Midler's music) However, whenever I see this film, I look at Woody's pony tail and wonder why he does films like this.

Still, nice colours, annoying mime, surprisingly little product placement, so worth a watch on a quiet Sunday

Silly concept but great chemistry, 3/10

[leonblackwood · 3/10 · 22 November 2014]

Review: Although this movie wasn't written and directed by Woody Allen, it still has the same concept as lot of his movies. It's basically about a couple who are celebrating there 16th wedding anniversary and while they are out shopping, Allen's character admits to finishing an affair the day before. After threatening divorce, his wife also admits to an affair so the long relationship is in turmoil whilst still shopping in the mall. Woody Allen has definitely got something for this troubled relationship concept, even when he hasn't written or directed the film himself. I did enjoy the chemistry between both of the characters and there banter was amusing in parts but the storyline was a bit silly for me. For such a loving couple, I don't know why they chose to tell each other such a deep secret in the mall, especially with a dinner planned for later on that day. Anyway, it's a silly romantic comedy which is mostly based in the mall, hence the title, which goes a bit over the top after a while. 

Round-Up: Well, I have now completed my Woody Allen season and it really does feel like I have watched a really long film based around troubled relationships and infidelity, with a New York backdrop. None of his earlier projects are anywhere near Blue Jasmine, which is also based around a troubled relationship but it's Cate Blanchett that made that movie brilliant. Most of the movies with Mia Farrow were quite dull but the films with Diane Keaton were much better. He's not the most versatile writers/directors and his comedy is warped and not that humorous but I'm sure that he entertains a certain type of audience, which I'm certainly not a part of. 

Budget: $3million Worldwide Gross: $10million

I recommend this movie to people who are into there Woody Allen movies about a couple who are celebrating there 16th anniversary and admit to infidelity whilst shopping in a mall. 3/10

Interesting, bold and mostly successful experiment

[gridoon2024 · 7/10 · 16 October 2022]

Although "Scenes From A Mall" has a poor reputation, I like it. Let me put it this way: in an era where some of the major new releases were - as seen here - Predator 2, Rocky V and yes, even Godfather III, it is nice once in a while to see a film that dares to takes some risks: namely, to play in "real time", to have really only two main characters, and to contain more talk than plot. Woody Allen and Bette Midler achieve - and sustain - a beautiful give-and-take rhythm; if a sequel had been made about their anniversary party, I'd watch it for sure (I'd love to meet Sheila). The movie is effective as a snapshot of a specific time and place - but it also has a selection of great old-time songs. And there are some neat little details in it that you may not even catch in the first viewing, like for example a screening of "Salaam, Bombay" attended only by two Indians (the Americans are assumed to have gone to one of the numericals), or a girl-girl couple dancing together in the penultimate scene and nobody making a fuss about it. Not a great movie, but much better than its reputation. *** out of 4.

Pictorial scenes from an inspiring setting, but repetition of salty dialog

[StevePulaski · 5/10 · 7 November 2011]

Scenes from a Mall is a hard film to describe. It has a great premise, two great leads that immediately click, a skilled director, and a setting that is one of my favorites. Why the low rating? It's hard to put my finger on what actually goes wrong. The best way is to pick and choose certain scenes and events to explain why the film becomes inferior to expectations.

The film is about Woody Allen and Bette Midler playing Nick and Deborah Fifer, a married couple with more baggage than you'd expect. He is a stressed out executive, and she is a marital psychotherapist. In honor of their sixteenth anniversary, they both agree to go to a trendy mall in order to pick up their anniversary gifts. She gets him a surfboard, with his name engraved on it, and he gets her a beautifully framed picture of the entire family.

Deborah then finds out Nick has took part in several acts of infidelity. Nick then finds out Deborah has took part in several acts of infidelity. Rather than doing the logical thing and leaving the mall, they continue to wonder around the setting, squabbling, and getting attention from innocent bystanders.

Does this sound like a film you'd truly like to see? No. But considering the remarkable talent involved most Woody fans would see it solely because he is in it. Right off the bat, the premise is tiresome. We hear many conversations, incorporating lengthy monologues and several fights. Only about a half a dozen truly interesting. Mostly because there is no zest. The couple is right, and so is the tone, but the true killer is the uninspired dialog.

It doesn't seem to have much confidence in itself either. Because it's in a mall, or a sound stage built to look like a real functioning mall, inevitably, you like to look at all the background events. The film is pictorial, in every sense of the word. It relies on goofy setups rather than its own material. Maybe because it feels inferior, boring, or just plan self-conscious. Truthfully, it is a little boring, but those pictorial backdrops don't do much justice.

When Deborah buys Nick the surfboard, what does he have to do? Carry the thing around the mall for most of the film. Rather than walking out to the car, he has to carry a big, yellow, protruding board while they walk around the mall aimlessly. At least the film doesn't have some ridiculous cartoon gag where Woody Allen's character hits people with it.

There's also a mime, played by Bill Irwin, and he has got to be one of the most annoying film characters of all time. The mime is put in the mall to entertain shoppers, and in the film to provide a failure of comic relief. He mimics the bickering couple in frequent points of the film, and never seems to stop miming or being a nuisance. He's an unnecessary, poorly conceived character who has no purpose in a film like this.

Some scenes work, some scenes don't. Some scenes are funny, some aren't. It's a mere gamble. Woody Allen and Bette Midler create some undeniably fantastic chemistry, but the rest of the film fumbles because that is truly the only thing it has to offer. Scene from a Mall is cute and often harmless, but it suffers from a dreary script and "too cute of a setting" syndrome.

Starring: Bette Midler, Woody Allen, and Bill Irwin. Directed by: Paul Mazursky.

My rating: 8

[kekca · 8/10 · 30 July 2013]

Years before we see the first shopping malls, Woody Allen has a film in such mall. The mall was turned by him in embodiment of people's lives and in particular, their married life. With its multiple floors, escalators, shops, restaurants, parks, entertainment halls, organized events for promotions and holidays, the mall has become a world of the modern humans. But that is not the focus here, it is only the background of the most important.

This movie is funny and crazy just as love is. Watching it, the viewer is flicking left and right, up and down, should laugh, gladden, be sad, excited and put in position to be doubted in his own situation and maybe to remember and compare it with what is already there. The metaphors of floors and stores with different emotions that they bring, the spiral parking, escalators which symbolize the development of a love affair with all the positive and negative feelings that brings.

What I am saying is messy too, as is the movie - it has everything. If you're a fan of what is written here, watch this movie and you will feel truly alive, at least for a while.

http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.com/

a parody of Woody Allen by Woody Allen

[alirezasho · 6/10 · 5 December 2021]

I read some of reviews and people seem to miss the point,Woody Allen is making fun of himself and genre and same time getting a few hits of What he hates :L. A lifestyle. One of Woody Allen's favorite directions Ingmar Bergman and his film "scenes from a marriage" is made to a L. A verision early 90s style,by a affluent at the top of thier career power couple that seem to have it all but something is missing,in the midst of chasing success,a family and lot of money and material they lost themselves in the modern consumption culture. I would give it higher rate if it wasn't for some unnecessary put in,exaggerated emotional reactions and the mime. It would need a actual drama to parallel the comedy, a tragic past some of sort and be more serious at times. The mall is real and it's the Beverly Center in L. A,it's not a studio,the film is low budget and has actual setting.

Two stars and not much else

[rtcnz · 2/10 · 27 January 2009]

Aside from the greatness that is inherent in its two stars, Bette and Woody, this movie is depressingly bad. I watched it with my mouth open in disgust at how awful it is.

Woody's little stump of a ponytail made every shot positively nauseating. As did the fluorescent lighting (that's what you get for setting an entire movie in a mall in 1991). The "sex scenes" (one in the bedroom and one in a cinema with other people shushing them) are probably the most sickening I have ever seen - and completely unnecessary.

The plot is pointless - a perfect marriage breaks up then gets back together then breaks up then gets back together then they bicker ... etc. It is nauseating also, the way the characters pendulum between emotions.

Do not watch this movie. Not even out of curiosity.