Typically indicative of a studio filling screen time with some lackluster piece of backlogged inventory, a mid-January release date is generally cause for the audience to set its expectations pretty low. In that sense, if in few others, "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" does not disappoint.
Paul Blart (Kevin James), thwarted in his dream of joining the state police, is in a rut in every aspect of his life. A socially inept single father who still lives with his mother, Blart's only source of fulfillment is his job as a security officer at the local mall. He has few prospects in life, but that suddenly changes when he finds himself confronting a team of gunmen who take over his beloved mall.
It's not terribly difficult to see the origin of the screenplay by Kevin James and TV writer Nick Bakay. Exploring the comedy potential of the "Die Hard" series with an inept protagonist is a funny notion. Unfortunately, the protagonist that they chose in this case doesn't work. Blart, whom we see being not only frequently mocked by both shoppers and coworkers but also crying alone in his room at night, is such a sad sack that the first half of the film borders on being genuinely depressing. Watching this man get crushed repeatedly is so uncomfortable that it's difficult to shake off the malaise when there is actual comedy on the screen. Crafting a humorously hapless and constantly humiliated character can be done very effectively – the gold standard of course being Jackie Gleason's work on "The Honeymooners" – but the certain surrounding circumstances (ie: loving wife, a good friend) need to be firmly in place to assure the audience that everything will turn out okay for the person.
It is to the great credit of Kevin James (TV's "King of Queens") that he occasionally manages to get out from under this dead weight. His unquestionable commitment to every attempted gag manages to drag this movie out of the doldrums occasionally. In particular, in the drunken restaurant scene, he almost manages to channel Chris Farley at his slap-stick best. Unfortunately, too many of the laughs are sought around his being overweight, which gets tired fairly quickly. Keir O'Donnell ("Wedding Crashers") also does some nice work, in spite of the fact that he is given little more to do than react in disbelief to Blart's shocking ineptitude. Still, it's always nice to see someone who can land a great 'reaction shot'. Jayma Mays (TVs "Ugly Betty"), playing Blart's love interest Amy, looks lovely, but brings little to the table.
Kevin James clearly deserves to be a star. He is unquestionably funny and likeable. However, in the future he may be better served to leave the writing to others. It should be noted, though, that the audience erupted in cheers when he finally beat the bad guys – of course, that may have only been because that meant that the movie was finally over.
