JIM Reviews film “PAUL BLART-- MALL COP” -- The Title covers it.

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“PAUL BLART— MALL COP” — The Title covers it.

Rating: 6 of 10 stars.
(Viewed via a BluRay DVD shown on a very large Library screen).

I didn’t see this when it was first released in early ‘09, & wanted to see how it compared with the disappointing “OBSERVE AND REPORT” released later that used the same mall cop idea. Star KEVIN JAMES is surprisingly limber and graceful (especially for a big man) in playing the title role, deftly motoring around the Mall on his Segway machine, including showing a new guy (KEIR O’DONNELL) the ‘ropes’ (or roadways). Kevin falls for a saleslady (JAYMA MAYS), but is often too shy to effectively follow thru on his interest. In time, a ROBBERY is carried out at the mall, with a number of people being held hostage, & Kevin tries to STOP the gang of criminals. The theft story plan is often quite illogical (tho actively handled by some athletic actors), the film is just MILDLY funny (not being very clever), but Kevin works hard at what he’s doing. I want to point out that there were numerous KIDS in the audience, & they seemed to get a KICK out of the movie overall (tho it’s pretty weak for most adult tastes). ‘BLART’ is a far more palatable film than the often-mean-spirited ‘O & R’, and I’d recommend it mainly for keeping young people entertained & occupied.