Paul Blart: Mall Cop

There’s really no reason on earth to take Paul Blart: Mall Cop the least bit serious. This is an inoffensive, cute, amusing, entertaining little comedy that performed extremely well at the box office considering its lack of A-list stars and crude humour. It was panned by critics, to be sure, with a few exceptions like Roger Ebert spotting what was really going on with the Steve Carr-directed comedy and letting it go for a few laughs.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop comes courtesy of producer Adam Sandler and has that typical Happy Madison Productions vibe with a bit of a family movie spin. Indeed, Blart lacks the crudeness of the majority of today’s modern comedies and actually preserves a touch of slapstick for modern audiences while still being self-aware enough to pass off as decent. Naturally Carr’s movie isn’t an earth-shattering piece of cinema, but it never sets out to be. As to what it does set out to accomplish, it’s pretty safe to say that Blart lands the target.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop features Kevin James in his first feature film starring role. James, who most people will recognize from the television series King of Queens, does a pretty darn good job carrying this comedy and has the charisma and physical comedy chops to garner some big laughs. And I’ll say this, perhaps just to beef up the controversy: he makes for a much, much better comedic leading man than Seth Rogen. Yeah, take that.

James stars as the title character and he’s a lovable lug. We meet Blart as he’s training to become a police officer in New Jersey. Unfortunately he fails at the last minute after collapsing from hypoglycaemia. He is shown to be a competent candidate, however, and it appears that his condition is all that is keeping him from a career as a police officer. Blart heads back to his job as a mall security guard and life continues as normal.

Blart apparently lives with his mother (Shirley Knight) and his daughter Maya (Raini Rodriguez). Maya was left to Blart after her mother ran out on him once she got her green card. Blart is working on getting back into the dating scene and he develops somewhat of a crush on the cute wig girl Amy (Jayma Mays). He also must train a new employee, Veck Sims (Keir O’Donnell), who eventually turns out to have something to do with a ridiculous plot to steal from the mall. It is Blart who winds up needing to spring into action to save Amy and the mall from sure destruction…or something.

The plot is ridiculous enough, but it gives James enough room to rumble as he fires up his Segway and springs into action to take on the mall baddies. He utilizes plenty of mall goodies, too, and gets creative with a venting system. Using the continuity of Blart’s hypoglycaemia, we’re able to feel as though there is some risk to the action sequences as well and this thickens up the movie somewhat.

Overall, however, most people are going to check out a film like Paul Blart: Mall Cop for the laughs and there are plenty of those. James makes for a great physical comedian, knowing how to draw the line effectively and never overcooking his sequences. He does well as an awkward oaf, too, and comes across as genuinely likeable. It is easy to cheer for his Paul Blart and it feels good when he prevails, if even for a moment. The relationship between Amy and Paul may be blown off by some cynics as being unrealistic, but who cares? It’s a movie.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop demonstrates that comedies can still be made without copious amounts of rude humour and profanity. It is preposterous, fun, and ultimately satisfying and I wouldn’t mind seeing a franchise spring out from James’ character. With such great box office results, I think you can bet on a second run through and I, for one, wouldn’t mind a bit.

Trailer: