Not quite Black Friday hype

5/19/2009

Starring and co-written by Kevin James, Mall Cop promised to be the comedy to kick off 2009. What we ended up with was a film nothing short of a made-for-TV Disney movie. That is not necessarily a bad thing, however.

The movie has it’s moments, enough to have you watching to the end; so we’re off to a good start so far. My main gripe with this movie however is not its overall entertainment value, but Kevin James. I’ve been a longtime KOQ fan (hmm..should rethink using that acronym) and James fit that role perfectly. As Paul Blart, I found his character boring to the Nth power. We’re not really attached to Paul at all, but rather the only emotion we find ourselves having for him is pitty.

There are times we feel bad for Paul and real-world Pauls: an overweight, hypoglycemic single-parent trying to find the love of his life. But that’s about where our sympathies end with Paul and turn into pure annoyance for Kevin James. To put it another way: this film would have been AMAZING with an actor like Chris Farley.

In James’ defense, he has his moments. I mean, what’s not funny about a fat guy cruisng around on a Segway, running and falling into things, and the preview-favorite running and sliding short scene. However James seems reliant on fat humor alone. Paul’s interaction with his mother only involved food jokes. This was funny in King of Queens, but felt dry and overused in Mall Cop. The bottom line: the character of Paul could have been much more entertaining and likable had he had more excitement and a little more substance.

The love interest in the film is played by the cute Jayma Mays. This is a totally unbelievable arc of the story, but is kind of sweet and entertaining nonetheless. The villian Veck Sims played Keir O’Donnell is a young, sly crew leader who portrays everything Blart is not. We get a good amount of PG-Die Hard action invloving a crew of skateboarders, BMX’ers, and parkours.

Of course we have a great misfit turns hero scenario that has us all smiling, and will be sure to get the kids cheering. In the end I’ve counted about 3 instances that actually made me laugh out loud, but I did smile and chuckle throughout. This is a nice family-friendly comedy that’s worth a good night on the couch. I’m a fan of Kevin James, but I think he missed it a little with this one.

Rating: 3.5 out of 7

Official Paul Blart: Mall Cop Website

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