Release Date: 1-16-09
Kevin James is Paul Blart, a hypoglycemic mall security officer, who constantly fails the test to become a New Jersey State Trooper. So he is serious about his job at the mall. He lives with his mother and daughter because his wife abandoned them. He’s a lonely dude who is constantly made fun of for his weight and his stupidity. He meets a chick (Jayma Mays) who is working one of the kiosks at the mall and starts up a friendship. Also he’s becoming friends with the new security guard trainee (Keir O’Donnell). Just when things are looking up, shit hits the fan. Now it’s Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year and the mall is taken over by a bunch of thugs looking to rob all the major stores. Blart is the only one on the inside who can stop them. If you’re a fan of Kevin James then you’ll get a decent amount of laughs. It’s his usual shtick. But other than that it’s just a mediocre comedy at best.
Kevin James gets his usual overweight jokes. Some of them are pretty funny. The big twist in the movie is who turns out to be the bad guy. And good Lord he might be the worst bad guy in the history of movies. He spews off sarcastic remarks left and right while he just sits on his ass in the mall waiting for his plan to work out. His rag tag group of punks go after Blart one by one and get man handled. For some reason he hired these skateboard punks and ninjas to be in his crew. They do unnecessary flips and ride bikes and boards throughout the mall. It’s quite ridiculous. The love story is unrealistic. Some hot chick isn’t going to fall for the fat loser security guard, no matter how much of a nice guy he is. He’s still the lowly security guard.
But I must say Kevin James makes me laugh. I’m a big King of Queens fan and I liked him in Hitch and I Know Pronounce You Chuck And Larry. It’s good to see him get his first starring role and having success at the box office. I wouldn’t recommend this to everyone because it definitely is a stupid movie. But if you’re a fan of Kevin James then I would definitely check it out when it’s on DVD or HBO. Luckily I’m a Kevin James fan so the laughs were enough to save this from a Whack. And he’s definitely an early nominee for Best Drunk Performance for 2009.
IMDB – 5.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 27%
Movie Wiseguys – 6/10