REVIEW: Paul Blart, Mall Cop (2009)

He’s big. He’s bad. Okay, he’s just big. Kevin James stars as the titular character as the mall security guard who could possibly give Inspector Clouseau a run for his money…well, maybe not exactly.

Paul Blart (James) dreams of being an officer of the New Jersey Police Department. However, there does pose one little problem. He is hypoglycemic, which means without sugar, he passes out. He does somehow like his job as a mall security job, a job that has been going on for a decade. While training newcomer Veck (Keir O’ Donnell), he falls for kiosk worker Amy (Jayma Mays) and the two seem to somehow connect, but after a night of hard partying, Paul nearly jeopardizes those chances.

It will soon become the last of Paul’s problems. While hanging out at the arcade, a band of terrorists begin to take over the mall. Shockingly, the leader of the terrorists is revealed to be none other than rookie guard Veck, who plans to steal 30 million dollars from all the stores. Paul learns about the plot and the terrorists and at first reluctant, he ultimately realizes he is the only hope to save everyone held hostage and stop the terrorists.

Co-produced by none other than Adam Sandler, this film is made to bring the physical comedy of Kevin James, best known for his nine season stint on the television series THE KING OF QUEENS. While James makes for a good television comedian, here, he kind of does a decent job, but it is better for him to do more television work. James does have his moments as Paul, including a fight with a woman at a Victoria’s Secret, but it doesn’t bode well beyond that. He does try hard but sometimes too hard. Yet, one can only give him credit for trying.

While it is unfair to compare this film with the Seth Rogen-led mall security comedy OBSERVE AND REPORT (2009), there does pose similarities between the two films. There’s the overweight protagonist as well as the hotshot cop who stands at odds with the protagonist. Here, the hotshot is a SWAT officer who turns out to be a former high school bully of our hero, played by an over-the-top Bobby Cannavale. Of course, there’s the love interest, here played by EPIC MOVIE’s Jayma Mays, who holds her own and acts more endearing than Anna Faris’s perfume counter girl.

At least there is no flashy martial arts fight scenes here, but rather have Blart use his environment around him to go after the terrorists, two of which are experts in the free running style of parkour. Of course, they do a little overdosing with the hypoglycemic angle and that isn’t always a good thing here. They need the right moments to use it and at times, it doesn’t hold up well.

PAUL BLART: MALL COP has its moments, but it’s arguably not the best comical feature about mall security, yet Kevin James does try his best at physical comedy. However, he should stick to television in the end.

AlbertV’s Rating: C+

Rated PG for mild language and violence.
Run time: 92 minutes.
Released by Columbia Pictures.

Directed by Steve Carr. Written by Kevin James and Nick Bakay. Starring Kevin James, Keir O’Donnell, Jayma Mays, Raini Rodriguez, Shirley Knight, Stephen Rannazzisi, Jamal Mixon, Peter Gerety, Bobby Cannavale, Erick Avari. Stunt coordinator Chris O’Hara.