‘Blart’ better than expected (3/5)

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

Starring: Kevin James, Keir O’Donnell, Jayma Mays
Directed By: Steve Carr
Rating: PG for some violence, mild crude and suggestive humor, and language.
Running Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

I’ll be honest. Watching “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” was on my “To Do” list right below shaving my cat. And I don’t even have a cat.

I don’t know what it was. Maybe the preview just didn’t look that funny. Maybe Kevin James just looked like he was trying a little too hard. Maybe the name “Paul Blart” just didn’t sit right with me (OK — it still doesn’t). Truth was, I just couldn’t fathom how this movie made almost $10 million its first day and rivaled “Cloverfield” for best opening of all-time for the four-day MLK weekend.

But, I did it. I watched it. And really, it wasn’t terrible. I may have a little weakness for Kevin James (we did go to the same college after all — go Red Dragons!), or perhaps I was just in the “Paul Blart” mood, but I actually ended up kind of liking it.

I think the movie came about when James (co-writer along with Nick Bakay, a casual passer-by on James’ “King of Queens”) was hunting for more sweat clothes in the mall and espied a security guard (or is it a security officer?). He then began wondering what would happen if he tried to take over the mall and was challenged by this pseudo-formidable fellow.

“Blart” tells the tale of a man by the name of, shockingly, “Paul Blart.” Even more surprising, he’s a mall cop. The only thing between him and his dream of becoming a New Jersey state police officer is his extreme hypoglycemia, in which he “needs a Snickers bar every 20 minutes” or risks passing out.

Blart is known for taking his security guard job just a little too seriously, admitting to his boss that he made up his very own oath to protect the people of the mall. Blart and the rest of the mall cop crew travel about on Segway PTs, something Blart seems to associate with the job position itself and is actually quite proficient at riding (except for the occasional mini-van run-in).

Blart is a typical lonely guy, but tries to remain happy with his mother and daughter, Maya. With the encouragement of his family, he attempts to woo the pretty kiosk vendor, Amy (Jayma Mays). This leads to a highly entertaining drunken escapade by Blart at a local bar.

But Blart gets to truly show his stuff when the mall comes under attack on Black Friday by a gang who plans to use stores’ credit card codes to steal $30 million, and take Amy as a hostage. Blart uses all means available to him in an effort to single-handedly take out the gang. It’s fun to watch him use elements of different stores against the “bad guys.”

Veck (Keir O’Donnell) and the “reindeer gang” were very shallow and one-dimensional, definitely one of the weakest points of the film. However, if you can get through that, this may just be a movie to enjoy.

I appreciated the lack of vulgarity and sexuality. Don’t get me wrong, “Superbad” is one of my favorite movies. But if not done right, profanity can truly wreck a movie. This is definitely a film I feel that young teenagers and open-minded adults would enjoy watching.

I still don’t fully understand the box office mania that was Paul Blart. But maybe in this time of turmoil and stress, people just needed a feel-good movie, which this definitely is. Go, Paul Blart, go.

3 of 5 stars