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Since 1996 |
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Paul Blart: Mall Cop Stars: Kevin James, Jayma Mays, Keir O'Donnell, Raini Rodriguez, Shirley Knight, Peter Gerety and Bobby Cannavale Director: Steve Carr Scriptwriters: Kevin James and Nick Bakay Columbia/Happy Madison Productions Rating: PG for some violence, crude humor and language Running Length: 88 minutes Today’s family comedies are a rare breed. Decent ones anyway. Those that are safe enough to take your kids to yet allow you to laugh at things that are written for the adults in the audience, with little or no guilt. It is a fine balance and sort of a lost art form. Sure, you sacrifice a little depth and have to give in to the predictable prat-falls and sophomoric moments but what you gain does make up for it on some levels. In the latest family comedy, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Kevin James (Blart) is a 10 year veteran of security at what could be Any Mall USA. This one just happens to be in New Jersey. Blart takes his job seriously. Very seriously in fact. Transferring his dreams of a highway patrol career to the only beat he has; rolling from one store to the next on his stand up scooter contraption. When a gang of thugs take over the mall on Black Friday it is up to Bart to save the day as well as the new mall employee Amy (Jayma Mays) who he has become quite smitten with. You get a little bit of everything in this Steve Carr directed film. He uses the mall location as a character in itself. Poking fun at normal routine always adds personality to a film. Makes it more relatable. We have all been to the mall and probably joked about the security guy. I personally think this film is a huge step forward from Carr’s earlier endeavors which include Are We Done Yet? and Daddy Day Care. It is more than safe to say that the elevating element in this one is Kevin James. James is a brilliant comedic actor. In many ways he reminds me of the late great John Belushi. He is a big guy but allows his body movements and choreographed timing to make him as graceful as any ballroom dancer. No motion is wasted. Each turn and pivot is funny and meant to bring a laugh. From the slightest facial expression or the turn of the hips it all adds to the overall objective, which is comedy. Plus he has that lovable personality that Belushi used to his benefit. Add to that the delivery of a John Candy and it is easy to see why James is always a screen success. Paul Blart: Mall Cop is rated PG for some violence, mild crude and suggestive humor, and language. Think of it as a home alone for big kids. Co-written by James and from the Adam Sandler production company (and yes Allen Covert is in it) it has a little more meat than your average family comedy. Enough to give it some heart without fouling up the dialogue and overdoing the suggestive humor. At the heart of the, well, heart, is a lovable guy that just wants to do the right thing. His might not be the most glamorous position but he knows what is important and that is what drives him. I will happily give it 3.5 out of 5 kiosks. It was 100% predictable and at times slightly campy but I laughed a lot as did most around me. It might have done better releasing during the Holidays but still worth putting on your family outing list. Matt Mungle (1/14/09) For additional reviews, interview clips and great DVD giveaways, visit the website www.mungleshow.com
Review copyright 2009 Mungleshow Productions. Used by Permission.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop says it all. Kevin James is the star, co-scriptwriter and producer of this film that gives product placement new meaning. James is a comic that uses his body build to advantage. In this film, he has low-sugar syndrome so that explains the nearness of food with sugar at all times. Paul takes his job as a mall security guard seriously with a capital "S." We begin with Paul trying to pass a fitness test to go into the police academy. He doesn't make it and the family consoles him to try again. He is a single father living with his Mom (Shirley Knight) and daughter Maya (Raini Rodriguez.) Not much is said about what happened to his wife. Paul goes to work as a mall security guard on a Segway, managing to out run the neighborhood dogs and getting his mall duties done. It is the Christmas season and Paul has his eye on Amy (Jayma Mays with eyes the size of saucers.) She runs a hair replacement kiosk. Everyone else has their eye on Amy, too, including one of the crooks (Keir O'Donnell) who is planning on shutting down the mall and robbing it. Keir doesn't look all that scary, but his gang of gymnasts and skateboarders look as though they came from an old "Batman/Joker" movie. Paul is accidentally locked into the mall (don't ask how) and finds he is the only link to the outside SWAT team lead by his old school rival (Bobby Cannavale.) The last half of the film is interesting, as it shows Paul in action like a James Bond-type doing 15 mph. James is a physical action actor and when he is called upon to do stunts, the film holds together. In other scenes, such as with family, the film goes bland, and it is not from the actors, they simply don't have a script to work from. The confrontations between Blatt and the crooks are mostly from subterfuge. When in doubt, and stretching the story, build it up with one of these scenes. Jayma Mays isn't called upon to do anything but stare at the camera. The only person with variety here is Keir O'Donnell as the villain, who does both humor and pathos with finesse. Paul Blatt: Mall Cop is set in a mall with the usual stores of commodities associated with such. This story is a blueprint on how to shut down such a place and those skateboarders are certainly faster than a Segway. However, what it does, in
an enlightened way, is to erase the idea that someone who can't get into
a police academy, works as mall security. Such security is detailed, responsible
work, though the rest of the film gets lost along the way.
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