Paul Blart, super vigile

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.

"Paul Blart: Mall Cop" from 2009 stars Kevin James, Jayma Mays, Shirley Knight, Bobby Cannavale, and Keir O'Donnell.

Paul Blart works for mall security after not making it to the police academy. He acts as if he's guarding the White House, stopping people in motorized carts for infractions, reporting in even though his boss asks who it is, and going a little overboard in his handling of a new trainee.

He hasn't dated since his green card marriage blew up, but he sees a young woman at one of the kiosks, Amy (Jayma Mays) and falls head over heels. After he makes a complete fool of himself at a bar, she seems less friendly.

When a gang announces the mall is closing early and starts an organized takeover and captures hostages, including Amy, Paul is fooling around with a guitar and singing in one of the stores. Therefore when the mall is locked, he's stuck in the mall. And it falls to him to do something about the robbery and the danger to the hostages.

Normally the last thing I watch is films like this. These past two weeks I've seen two. It's since the election. I have needed films to numb my mind. Kevin James makes me laugh with his slapstick and cluelessness, so it was fine.

It's predictable, it's funny in spots, it seems to go on longer than necessary, but by far it is not the worst thing I've ever seen. And for a change with today's comedy, it didn't have vulgar jokes.

This last week I watched Netflix's True Memoirs of an International Assassin, also with Kevin James, to give you an idea of what all the divisiveness and hate of this election has done to me.

To those who gave this a three stars or less, what did you expect??? The movie is stupid alright but it is funny. Like a stupid but funny Die Hard. Many funny little stupid things. The air vent scene was funny. The squeaking shoes in the bank were funny. My only real complaint was the guy who they cast in the Hans Gruber role. He wasn't right. Maybe not a bad actor, just grossly miscast. Nimble Kevin was fine and so were most of everyone else. Above average musical score, which was a pleasant surprise.

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.

I wasn't too sure about this movie when I saw the trailers. It looked like it might be a total waste of time, along the lines of "Delta Farce" or "Meet the Spartans". However, after reading some of the reviews, and being a fan of "King of Queens", I decided to check it out and was pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed it. The casting was excellent, the screenplay was very good, and Kevin James fit the bill perfectly. I can't imagine anyone other than him playing the role of Paul Blart, Mall Cop.

Paul Blart is an overweight, hypo-glycemic (prone to fainting spells), shopping mall security guard who lives with him Mom and teenage daughter somewhere in North Jersey. Paul aspires to be a NJ State Police officer but cannot pass the required physical, and thus is consigned to his present job at a West Orange, NJ shopping mall. While Paul is on duty, a group of armed robbers attempt to steal the credit card receipts. The remainder of the film is Paul doing battle with this group of robbers. This sounds more serious than it is. Rest assured, it's a fun comedy with many funny gags / bits.

I'd recommend this movie to anyone who liked "King of Queens" or has an affinity for light-hearted comedies.