Paul Blart: Mall Cop Review

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

Release Date: 19th March 2009 - Australia

Production Companies

Columbia Pictures (presents)

Relativity Media (in association with)

Happy Madison Productions

Hey Eddie

Distribution

Sony Pictures Australia

Genre: Action/Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 91 minutes

Budget: $26,000,000

Box Office Gross: $183,348,429 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary
All his life, mild-mannered Paul Blart has dreamed of becoming a state trooper, but instead, he is a security officer in a local mall in New Jersey. When a gang of crooks invaded the mall and took some hostages, it's up to Paul Blart to rescue them and defend the place from intruders, as he must go from being a mall cop to an actual cop!

Cast

Kevin James - Paul Blart

Keri O'Donnell - Veck Simms

Jayma Mays - Amy
Raini Rodriguez - Maya
Shirley Knight - Mom
Stephen Rannazzisi - Stuart
Peter Gerety - Chief Brooks
Bobby Cannavale - Cmdr. James Kent
Adam Ferrara - Sergeant Howard
Jamal Mixon - Leon
Adhir Kalyan - Pahud
Erick Avari - Vijay
Mike Vallely - Rudolph
Jason Ellis - Prancer
Jason Packham - Comet
Rick Thorne - Cupid
Victor Lopez - Donner
Natascha Hopkins - Vixen
Mookie Barker - Mr. Ferguson
Dylan Clark Marshall - Jason
Bernie McInerney - Old Man on Scooter
Gary Valentine - Karaoke Singer

Crew

Director - Steve Carr
Writer - Nick Bakay
Writer/Producer - Kevin James
Executive Producer - Jeff Sussman
Producers - Todd Garner,

Jack Giarraputo and Adam Sandler

Producer/2nd Unit Director - Barry Bernardi
Production Designer - Perry Andelin Blake
Art Director - Alan Au

Set Decorator - Tracey Doyle
Costume Designer - Ellen Lutter
Director of Photography - Russ T. Alsobrook

"A" Camera Operator - Casey Hotchkiss

Location Manager - Charles Harrington

Stunt Coordinator - Chris O'Hara
Special Effects Coordinator - Ray Bivins

Visual Effects Supervisor: Zoic Studios -

Patti Gannon
Editor - Jeff Freeman

1st Assistant Editor - Jason Gourson

Supervising Sound Editors -

Michael J. Benavente and Elmo Weber

Supervising Sound Mixers - Deb Adair

and William Freesh
Music - Waddy Wachtel

Music Supervisor - Michael Dilbeck

Review

In light of COVID-19, the pandemic is currently unfolding worldwide. I was so disappointed when several new movies got postponed, and all the cinemas were temporarily closed. This fear of a pandemic was so widespread that it caused everyone to stay home and begin social distancing. Fortunately, it didn't stop me from continuing to review movies. One of the films I watched while being self-isolated was PAUL BLART: MALL COP.

I was supposed to review this comedy before 2020, but I started doing it anyway. The film has some great laughs, but the jokes are hit-or-miss, and the storyline is predictable. It feels like a stale, lighthearted parody of Die Hard, missing the fun and gratuitous violence. I liked the moment when Paul got drunk and then made a fool out of himself. Kevin James was not a bad comedian, though he had a knack for playing overweight characters. James's acting was decent. It doesn't save the movie from its shortcomings.

MALL COP is not one of my favourite comedies. And it was an average movie at best. I was surprised that the film had a sequel, since it could never be as good as the original.

Star rating: (5/10) Average

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