Paul Blart: Mall Cop

When I saw the premise of this movie, I had a chuckle. It had the potential to be a decently funny movie, something perhaps with heart, something that delivered a good deal of laughs and you walked out feeling good. I wasn't expecting an Academy Award winning movie. Its definitely not Oscar-worthy. The real disappointment lies in the lack of humor in it.

Paul Blart (Kevin James) is a mall cop that seems to have no direction in his life. They go to good lengths to show how truly depressing his life is. Paul sees a woman in his mall, Amy (Jayma Mays), running a stand for hair extensions. He realizes that he needs to be with her and tries to woo her, even though he has no self-esteem. Just as the story is falling apart, the mall where they both work is robbed in a supposedly sophisticated scheme. Suddenly our slovenly friend is thrust into a role where he can try to impress the love of his life and excel at his job at the same time. Easy to guess where this story is going, no?

The acting was okay, the direction was tolerable. The problem is the script. As I said, the story itself had potential. It just felt as if the writers could decide where this was a character they loved or hated. It really could have used another re-write or two to develop the script a little more. The movie is tolerable, but realize that not only are you not seeing an Oscar-worthy movie, but you'll be a little disappointed in the laughs as well. 3/10

This film is kinda silly, kinda dumb, and kinda fun. It is the type of film I would take my 12 year old daughter to see. It seems to be made for preteens and teens. The film was slow to start so have some patience at the beginning. It was a cute movie. Very fun, kid friendly and gives you warm fuzzy feelings at the end. The hero is very likable and you always cheering him to come out on top. I wouldn't say it's a hilarious movie or keep you on the edge of your seat, it had its moments. I would consider the movie a good waste of time. It's nice to have a film out there that is light and avoid bathroom jokes and video-game type violence. I enjoyed it and my daughter liked it even more. It is recommended for young people but not fully recommended for adults.

When I saw the trailer for this movie, I was more than anxious to see it. Then I saw another one and it made me see it even more. Then I saw the movie and guess what, all the good scenes were those that I've already seen and nothing more. The idea itself is a very interesting one at very least, but it's the realization is where the movie fails. The story begins to borderline on being boring halfway through, and it all begins to be more than predictable. Once or twice the story takes an engaging turn, but it's really not enough. The funny parts are to be counted on the fingers of one hand, and the ending is -again- so predictable, it hurts. Which is a shame, because the acting is really good, Kevin James is truly shining through and proving that he's a really good actor; again, not nearly enough to salvage the shortcomings of the plot and the lack of jokes. Which is a shame. Movie starts really promising, but the further we go into the movie, the more painful it becomes to watch it. As if the makers gave up on it after shooting the first 30 minutes. I'm giving it 5 stars only because the first half an hour is really decent. And I gotta admire James doing all his stunts. So do yourself a favor. Don't watch the movie. Watch the trailers. That's all you need to see.

Never watched King of Queens, never have been a Kevin James fan but always liked him better than his pal Ray Romano. I was coerced into seeing this Mall Cop movie. I give it a 6 out of 10. Now some may say that is a low rating, some may say better than mediocre.....for me who normally does not like this guys type of humor, this is a great rating!!! It was mildly entertaining...for me it gets the extra star to put it at 6 because it's refreshing to see some humor that's not overly sarcastic, deeply degrading to someone else (except the title character), or just downright cruel. This relied on what I call "Bill Cosby" sense of humor. Funny but overall clean. A bit cheesy, but I think that's what Kevin and the screenwriters were going for. Normally I don't get why people think he's funny but in this case, I did get it....and you can't help but like the guy. Without giving any detail, the bar scene for me was one of the most Laugh Out Loud moments in the movie. The way KJ zips around on the Segway is pretty hilarious although because of it's consistency throughout the movie it wears off a bit. I agree with previous reviews of how the villains kind of downgraded the movie a bit. If that was smarter, or those parts were rewritten, it could have been a lot funnier. Another surprising aspect is Kevin's agility, and athleticism. In this particular movie he is very physical (or at least stunt doubles allow him to appear that way) Overall my 6 out of 10 rating should be perceived as a great rating for this movie. I previously never liked this actor, I thought the title was dumb as dirt, and although I always keep an open mind I would be lying if I didn't say that my expectations were very, very low for this. Certainly not as bad as I thought it would be, and not as great as I thought it could have been. Kevin and cast made this a little better than average...and it changed my mind about my hesitation with this guy....I hope someone puts him in a good movie with a great script in the future (better than Chuck and Larry, Hitch). I believe it will do well on cable. One last thing that I must mention was great, at 82 mins...it was just long enough to not overdue what should be viewed as a kinda silly concept.

Lame-but-charming with some laugh-out-loud moments is the best way I can sum up this comedy. Overall, it's pretty innocent, especially considering most comedies today. There is very little material that could be offensive.

It's a cliché these days in films, made popular by guys like the late John Candy - fat guys picked up and proving to be heroes and getting back at the thinner-and-nasty folks who torment them. Here, it is a few co-workers at the mall and the bad guys who want to rob it.

Meanwhile, our plump policeman, a security cop at a New Jersey mall, has his eyes on a pretty girl who runs a kiosk.....and you just know he'll win her - "Amy" (Jayma Mays) - in the end. (Hey, it's not real life, but we fat guys can dream, too!) Kevin James plays the Candy-esquire "Paul Blart," a state policeman-wannabe who winds up on his scooter being the ultra-straight cop/nerd for the mall. He, of course, is unlikeliest of heroes, but turns into Rambo when needed. Along the way are a bunch of sight gags and some insults, most of which produce laughs. Some are very funny.

In fact, overall the individual sight gags are funnier than the overall story but it want some nice humor and corny story that doesn't offend much, you could do a lot worse. It's got charm.