When a shopping mall is taken over by a gang of organized crooks, it's up to a mild-mannered security guard to save the day.When a shopping mall is taken over by a gang of organized crooks, it's up to a mild-mannered security guard to save the day.When a shopping mall is taken over by a gang of organized crooks, it's up to a mild-mannered security guard to save the day.
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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.
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.
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
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
Is it stupid? Yes. Is it unrealistic? Yes. What I wildly entertained? YES! While I can see the flaws in logic and absurdity in Paul Blart: Mall Cop, I also feel that the film has a lot of heart. I enjoyed the time that I spent watching Blart ride is Segway around the mall, fail at his social interactions and ultimately come out the hero in the end. It is not my favorite comedy of all time, but I think that it is pretty dang funny.
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.
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.
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.
Did you know
- TriviaTwo of Kevin James' real-life family members are seen in this film: the karaoke singer is his older brother Gary Valentine, and the woman with two children who Paul helps is his wife Steffiana De La Cruz.
- GoofsWhen Paul Blart is talking to Amy she asks him if he was the guy that crashed into the minivan and points to a blue minivan, but he actually hits a silver one.
- Quotes
[from trailer]
Paul Blart: [talking to himself] What are you trained to do? Nothing...
- Crazy creditsTwo additional scenes play during the closing credits.
- Alternate versionsThe UK release was cut, this film was originally shown to the BBFC in an unfinished version. The BBFC advised the distributor that the film was likely to receive a 12A classification but that the requested PG classification could be obtained by making changes to two scenes. In particular the BBFC suggested that a scene in which a man has the lid of a sun bed slammed onto him several times be reduced; and that an extended fight sequence also be reduced to remove some of the strongest blows. In this scene specifically, it was suggested that a blow to the face with a skateboard and dialogue which introduces and emphasises a headbutt be removed. When the finished version of the film was submitted these reductions had been made satisfactorily and the film was classified PG.
Details
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- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Héroe de centro comercial
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $26,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $146,336,178
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $31,832,636
- Jan 18, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $183,348,429
- Runtime
- 1h 31m(91 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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