RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Scenes From a Mall
Scenes From a Mall

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Scenes From a Mall (1991)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
27 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:22

Fresh:6

Rotten:16

Average Rating:4.2/10

Runtime: 87 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Bette Midler and Woody Allen star in director Paul Mazursky's comedy as a professional Los Angeles couple--Deborah (Midler) is the author of a best-selling self-help book about marriage and has... Bette Midler and Woody Allen star in director Paul Mazursky's comedy as a professional Los Angeles couple--Deborah (Midler) is the author of a best-selling self-help book about marriage and has been wed to successful lawyer Nick (Allen) for 16 years. They live a high-pressure professional life, complete with matching Saabs, two kids, a house in the hills, beepers, cell phones, and a constant barrage of client phone calls. To celebrate their anniversary, they decide to embark on a spending spree at the Beverly Center mall. But while there, each makes a startling revelation that rocks their marriage. Nick, following advice from his wife's book, kicks things off by announcing he's been having an affair. Deborah, staggered by the news, rebounds by requesting a divorce. The spoiled couple reconciles--until the author admits that she's been unfaithful herself. As Nick and Deborah wade their way through the mall, dodging a particularly annoying mime (clown Bill Irwin in a hilarious role), mariachi bands, and Christmas-carolling rappers, they are forced to realize the mistakes they've made along the way--all the while juggling the pros and cons of their marriage, dividing assets, and shooting off rapid rounds of compliments and insults. Midler and Allen make a terrific and suitably neurotic pair in Mazursky's hilarious satire of an outlandish Los Angles marriage. [More]

Starring: Bette Midler, Woody Allen, Bill Irwin, Paul Mazursky

Starring: Bette Midler, Woody Allen, Bill Irwin, Paul Mazursky

Director: Paul Mazursky

Director: Paul Mazursky

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Scenes From a Mall

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Allen's admittedly funny lines get lost in the mess, and Midler, in relatively restrained mode, fades away altogether.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's a horrible fascination here that goes beyond Woody's ponytail.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/24/03
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Paul Mazursky's 14th film as director is a cozy, insular middle-aged marital comedy that's about as deep and rewarding as a day of mall-cruising.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/23/09
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There are moments here and there, but it's mostly ordinary, unimaginative writing. Midler and Allen deserve better.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
03/23/09
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mazursky has returned with a vengeance to his special universe where the upper middle class is the only thing that exists, and this time he has absolutely nothing to say about it.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
03/23/09
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

Sorta funny, but the gap yawns between what it is and what it should have been.

comment Comment
05/25/06
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

No review available.

comment Comment
10/05/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

Again proving Woody Allen should stick with Woody Allen movies.

comment Comment
09/18/05
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

No review available.

comment Comment
08/10/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Funny in fits and starts before wearing out its welcome in short order.

comment Comment
04/03/05
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
09/10/04
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

Some funny moments, but it should have been a triumph

comment Comment
02/25/04
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

There's a reason Woody Allen usually directs himself.

comment Comment
01/29/04
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Examines a marriage under siege.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
07/18/03
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Scenes From a Mall is a peculiar but, finally, very engaging comedy.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
10/18/02
Brian J. Arthurs
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

Next time you go shopping leave Woody and Bette at home

comment Comment
09/17/02
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

No review available.

comment Comment
07/30/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Sounds like the perfect high-concept project, right? So how could it go wrong? Who knows? But wrong it went.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

It offers you surprisingly little considering the names involved.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…
19% 19% Transformers: Revenge …
55% 55% Orphan
43% 43% The Proposal
26% 26% Land of the Lost

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
37% 37% G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
14% 14% I Love You, Beth Cooper
97% 97% Food, Inc.
28% 28% Aliens in the Attic

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia

Your first look at the swashbuckler.

Vampires

Vampires

We rank cinema's bloodsuckers.

Avatar

Avatar

The full trailer for Cameron's epic.

2012

2012

12 facts about Emmerich's disaster flick.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Abrams eyes Micronauts, Aykroyd as Yogi Bear
84
  • J.J. Abrams Producing Micronauts Movie? Source: Wall Street Journal
11
  • Peter Murphy Filming Twilight Saga: Eclipse Cameo Source: MTV
18
  • David Goyer Promises "Existential" Ghost Rider Sequel Source: MTV
162
  • Emmerich Plans 2012: The TV Series Source: Entertainment Weekly
21
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
42
  • Guttenberg Promises Three Men and a Baby Sequel Source: WENN
66
  • Berenstain Bears Going CGI for Big-Screen Debut Source: USA Today
3
  • Ian McKellen Is Excited About The Hobbit Source: Sci Fi Wire
26
  • Owen Wilson IS Marmaduke Source: Hollywood Reporter
42
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • 12 Facts About 2012
132
  • Total Recall: George Clooney's Best Movies
91
  • Critics Consensus: A Christmas Carol Dazzles But Disappoints
41
  • Ho-ho-horror! 10 Scary Christmas Movies
36
  • Weekly Ketchup: Abrams eyes Micronauts, Aykroyd as Yogi Bear
28
  • Friday Harvest: Prince of Persia, The Road, and more!
22
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
14
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Christmas Carol Tops, Precious Rocks
5
  • New Moon Fan in the UK? Meet the Cast!
4
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
14
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
15
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
  • Emma Stone talks Zombieland - RT Interview
40
  • Michael Moore: The RT Interview
139
  • Andrea Arnold talks Fish Tank - RT Interview
4
  • Neill Blomkamp talks District 9 - RT Interview
51
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Scenes From a Mall at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.