PAUL BLART: MALL COP

Director: Steve Carr
Stars: Kevin James, Keir O'Donnell, Jayma Mays, Bobby Cannavale, Raini Rodriguez, Stephen Rannazzisi, Adhir Kalyan
Year: 2009
Rating: PG

Kind of sad, when a great and talented cast works their magic on a film that still turns out bad. Not awful, mind you. Just ... not good.

Kevin James, good on TV's "King of Queens," really dumbs it down here as both lead actor and co-writer, playing mall security guard Paul Blart. Paul's a lovable loser who's been kicked around by life since childhood; he currently lives, with his mom and young daughter Maya, in a small suburban home after his wife (who tricked him into marriage only to get a green card) ditch him and Maya some time ago. Always grabbing for the brass ring, Paul's tried multiple times to become a cop or state trooper - but in the end, always falls just short of making the grade, usually because his hypoglycemia causes him to pass out during the physical fitness endurance test. Settling instead - as he always has in life - Paul now works as a security guard in a local mall, and it's a job he takes as seriously as a secret service agent guarding the President. Good at his job, he's also a klutz and a simpleton, the brunt of jokes from everyone from his co-workers to a pen salesmen who works in the mall named Stuart (Rannazzisi). Even the young new recruit to the mall's security team, Veck Sims (Keir O'Donnell) just shakes his head in wonder as Paul bumbles and stumbles his way through training him.

But the holidays are coming, and in the midst of Paul's preparing for Black Friday - the busiest shopping day of the year - Paul is also getting pressure from his mother and daughter to start dating again. Sure enough, Paul's even found a beauty, working at one of the mall kiosks, that he's completely smitten by ... but Amy (Jayma Mays), while she likes Paul, is even turned off again during a night at a local restaurant/bar - when Paul, who never drinks, gets smashed and makes a complete ass of himself (in a WAY over-played scene) in front of Amy and other mall employees alike.

But on Black Friday (which also happens to be Amy's birthday), when the mall is besieged by high-tech criminals seeking to pull off a huge caper worth $30 million, and Amy ends up a hostage with about a half-dozen other people - it's up to Paul (who, through his own slacker personality, is the only other person left in the mall after the thieves empty it of customers) to save the day, rescue the hostages ... and show both Amy and the world that he's not such a loser, after all.

Kevin James is, at times, both endearing and incredibly annoying as Paul Blart; sometimes you want to hug him and say everything will be okay - but more often you'll want to reach through the screen and strangle him, thinking how could any be this stupid?! The script is mediocre at best, with characters sometimes doing things that make no sense in the context of the story, the comedy worthy more of chuckles here and there than outright laughter. The cast does the best with what they have, and even James makes Paul a good guy at heart - even if somewhat annoying at times. The ending is nothing unusual or clever, and can be seen from a mile away, and the direction of the film overall is fairly weak.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop the kind of film you might want to catch when late at night, and you're flipping through 152 channels with nothing else to watch ... but certainly not worth buying or even a rental, even with the really talented cast. A shame, because with that cast and a better script (and title), it might have been so much more. *1/2 - Get Reel-Reel Mediocre