Paul Blart: Mall Cop

Directed by Steve Carr. Written by Kevin James and Nick Bakay. Starring Kevin James, Keir O'Donnell, and Jayma Mays.

Happy Madison - 2009

Three Stars of Review! ***

I could waist a lot of words writing about how I feel critics got it wrong on this one. I could over articulate my point about this live action version of a Warner Brother's cartoon, and what it did right. I could rant about how in the age of Will Ferrell and Judd Apatow it seems unimaginable to have a film on that level of silly without the trademark foul language, and crude sexual forays. Instead I will just say this: Paul Blart: Mall Cop is a Kevin James vehicle. Kevin James is funny.

What I won't say is too much about the film itself. It's the kind of thing where the gags work best because they take you by surprise. Essentially we have Mr. Blart. An over weight mall cop with a medical condition that causes him to fall asleep on the spot should he not consume a pixie stick or two in regular intervals. Every one thinks Paul is a loser except his cherubic daughter, the mother that he lives with, and just maybe that cute girl who runs a hair extension kiosk.

Paul is well intentioned, but not exactly the brightest bulb. Or perhaps he's just a bit too socially awkward. He zips around his domain on a Segway (a device he seems to have mastered like a rotund chivalric knight), and suffers regular abuse at the hands of his fellow employees and patrons.

Somewhere between attempts to woo the girl of his dreams, and flinging himself through a window, the mall is infiltrated by a group of parkour efficient robbers who coincidentally take most of his friends hostage. It's then up to Blart to save the day in a series of increasingly silly physical gags.

This is of course the whole point. Kevin James is an extremely talented physical comedian, and a man of surprising agility. He leaps over fences, slides across the floor, and even does a few very funny things with that Segway he spends most of the film riding around on.

If you like films like Anchor Man, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and Hot Rod then you should like this. If silly is not your thing then you might want to reconsider. Yes it is made for the whole family and thankfully devoid of penises straying into the frame, but should that really be considered a bad thing?

This film is available to watch instantly for Netflix subscribers.