Product Description

In Columbia Pictures' comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Kevin James stars as the title character, a single, suburban dad, trying to make ends meet as a security officer at a New Jersey mall. Though no one else takes his job seriously, Paul considers himself on the front lines of safety. When a heist shuts down the megaplex, Jersey's most formidable mall cop will have to become a real cop to save the day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1107 in DVD
• Brand: JAMES,KEVIN
• Released on: 2009-05-19
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 91 minutes

Amazon.com
Attention, shoppers: Former King of Queens star Kevin James makes the successful leap to big screen leading man with this Die Hard meets Home Alone slapstick comedy produced by Adam Sandler. In his most empathetic role since his endearing scene-stealing turn in Hitch, James (who also co-wrote the script) stars as biggest loser Paul Blart, a 10-year veteran of the West Orange, New Jersey shopping mall, where he gets no respect from taunting kids who pelt him with ball pit orbs, or a senior who brazenly violates Bart's strictly enforced speed limit in his motorized wheelchair. The film is slow to get rolling as it lays on the pathos as thick as the peanut butter the lonely, overweight and socially awkward Blart spreads on his pies ("Food fills the cracks in he heart," he tells his mother). But then, a band of cycling, skateboarding thieves presumably recruited from the X games take over the mall on so-called Black Friday, the busiest holiday season shopping day. Blart is "untrained, unarmed, and presents a huge target," but, like a plus-size John McClane on a Segway, he is the wild card determined to stop them and rescue his unrequited crush (Jayma Mays) who has been taken hostage. James carries the film on his massive shoulders (the supporting cast is strictly discount outlet, with comedian Adam Ferrara as a sympathetic cop and Bobby Cannavale from Will & Grace and Third Watch as a bullying SWAT team leader the most familiar faces). He proves himself to be an impressively agile physical comedian and he's game for every body slam, pratfall, and tumble. Rated PG for mild violence, a few profanities, and a couple of gross-out gags, Paul Blart: Mall Cop is less crude than previous Sandler productions, more The Benchwarmers than Deuce Bigalow. --Donald Liebenson

Stills from Paul Blart: Mall Cop (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

Aw, isn't there room in this world anymore for a big, affable lug?
This movie is getting a surprising amount of hate and I don't know why. There is very little in the way of violence, even less in the way of sex and even the gross-out jokes are kept way below what is usually the minimum level for comedies lately. The bad guys get around the mall with mountain bikes, skate boards and by utilizing some impressive parkour moves. Clearly this movie was meant for the PG crowd and in that it succeeds. It's a nice clean family comedy that everyone can attend and enjoy. There were lots of families in the theater when I saw this movie and they all seemed to have a pretty good time. They laughed and giggled and there was very little of the bored chatter you hear sometimes at kids/family movies.

I was thinking a little about the John Candy movie Summer Rental after I saw this. Candy played a few different roles in films before he did Summer Rental but that movie is where you see the classic John Candy affable lug character that kind of served as a template for most of his following roles. His characters were usually some variation of that, he did it well and people loved it. Kevin James has a similar likable quality and I'm hoping that maybe he picks up the Easy Going Good Guy mantle where John Candy left it.

To paraphrase Paul Blart himself, "Don't write this movie off." Like I said, there were plenty of scenes that had both kids and adults laughing together. Isn't it worth at least the price of a matinee ticket to laugh for a while with your kids?

Pretty clean humor, and better than I thought it would be
I had my reservations going in to see this one, but it was surprisingly funny and didn't have to use much gross-out, potty humor or profanity that seems to be pervading many comedies these days in attempts to humor people. Instead, there was more slapstick style humor, and while it is the classic lovable loser meets girl scenario (except at the mall) and has its predictable moments, over all it was a pretty decent comedy.

King of Queens star Kevin James plays Paul Blart, a long time mall security guard who is a bit lonely in life because of failed relationships. When he sees a beautiful woman working in the mall, he tries to figure out a way to connect with her, but his awkwardness gets in the way of his progress. Training a new mall security guard isn't what it seems to be, as this supposed high school dropout turns out to be the brains behind a massive robbery and hostage situation. It is up to Paul Blart, the only one who takes his job too seriously, to try and save the day.

The first part of the movie was funny, but some of the gags were awkward at times (trying too hard to be funny). What James brought to the character Blart was kind of a Chris Farley/John Candy kind of persona. I thought that the later half of the film was better, even though as usual you have to throw reason out the window.

Not too bad of a film, and dare I say, it might even be one you could take a date to see.

What are you looking for?
We went to see this and loved it! It was part boy-meets-girl, part cops & robbers, part ninja stunts, part average-guy-succeeds, part sweet dad, part slapstick, part irony of human relationships, but all funny. And the music was GREAT! Went home and immediately signed up to get the sound track when it becomes available.

If I'm looking for something dark and ponderous, I watch PBS or Ingrid Bergman. If I'm looking for something factual, I watch a documentary. If I need to be updated on current events, I watch (or read)the news. But if I need to laugh hard and feel better when I leave, Mall Cop is perfect.

And the music is just terrific! Spans time and memories of my past, but is also this-very-minute, 2009. Can't wait to hear it again!

Just all depends what you're looking for. . . .