Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Movie Review)

Movie Review
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Starring: Kevin Smith
Directed by Steve Carr
Runtime: 1:31

It’s becoming rarer and rarer to find a comedy film that is both family friendly and enjoyable. It’s more profitable to make movies that push the limits of vulgarity than to create something the whole family could enjoy. Steve Carr’s Paul Blart: Mall Cop attempts to make a good family comedy. While the movie is indeed wholesome enough for the whole family, the movie does walk a fine line between enjoyable and uncomfortable to watch.

Kevin James plays Paul Blart. Blart is a single dad who dreams of being a New Jersey state trooper. His dreams are impossible though because of his issues with hypoglycaemia. Instead he must settle for a job being security at a shopping mall. Blart takes all his problems in stride and is very personable and well-liked by those around him. He is dedicated to the security of the mall and treats his job as if he was a real policeman as evidenced by his attempts to issue citations to mall patrons who go too fast on their motorized wheelchairs.

Blart falls for Amy (Jayma Mays), a young woman working at a kiosk. He has trouble showing his affection for her and constantly goofs up around her. On Black Friday, one of the rookie security guards (Keir O’Donnell) for the mall takes some people in the mall hostage (including Amy) and, with his gang, attempt to steal millions of dollars from the various credit machines at the stores within the mall. Blart is the only security presence in the mall and decides it’s up to him to take down the armed invaders with nothing more than a Segway and determination.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop is your standard slapstick type movie. The main character has personal flaws and must overcome them throughout the movie. As he does this, the results are generally funny. There are times where this is more awkward that funny such as the time when Blart meets Amy as well as the time when Blart gets drunk in the bar and does anything he can to embarrass himself. The movie does redeem itself as it gets more serious once the mall is taken hostage and Blart takes on the personality of a dopier, out-of-shape Jack Bauer. When Blart succeeds he either does it by outsmarting his rivals or sometimes by accident. He doesn’t all of a sudden become unstoppable. Blart’s development was written methodically and very believable. Blart is able to hang in with the robbers because his character is supposed to have strong traits that are hidden within him that he eventually discovers rather than being a born loser who turns out to be hero simply out of convenience for the script.

Mall Cop’s biggest flaw is that it can feel too awkward at times especially at the beginning of the movie. Watching Blart interact with Amy at the beginning of the movie was borderline painful not only because it felt as if the film and time got stuck on that scene but also because you can feel the agony that Blart is going through as he is acting like an idiot towards Amy even though he’s trying his best to impress her. The first half hour of the movie is hard to get through because of this; although one is rewarded by a solid, enjoyable film after the horrible beginning.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop has a lot of redeeming qualities. It’s funny, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and is something the entire family can enjoy. However, getting through the first part is a chore and it’s easy to get soured on the film because of the tedious beginning. It’s a funny film but there are very few jokes that will make you laugh hard and fewer that are memorable after viewing the film. It’s not a bad way to kill an hour-and-a-half but you could probably think of something.

☆☆