4/5 Aw, isn't there room in this world anymore for a big, affable lug?
  by Hammock Rider (Talk of the Town Trailer Estates Park - Southern California)
This movie is getting a surprising amount of hate and I don't know why. There is very little in the way of violence, even less in the way of sex and even the gross-out jokes are kept way below what is usually the minimum level for comedies lately. The bad guys get around the mall with mountain bikes, skate boards and by utilizing some impressive parkour moves. Clearly this movie was meant for the PG crowd and in that it succeeds. It's a nice clean family comedy that everyone can attend and enjoy. There were lots of families in the theater when I saw this movie and they all seemed to have a pretty good time. They laughed and giggled and there was very little of the bored chatter you hear sometimes at kids/family movies.

I was thinking a little about the John Candy movie Summer Rental after I saw this. Candy played a few different roles in films before he did Summer Rental but that movie is where you see the classic John Candy affable lug character that kind of served as a template for most of his following roles. His characters were usually some variation of that, he did it well and people loved it. Kevin James has a similar likable quality and I'm hoping that maybe he picks up the Easy Going Good Guy mantle where John Candy left it.

To paraphrase Paul Blart himself, "Don't write this movie off." Like I said, there were plenty of scenes that had both kids and adults laughing together. Isn't it worth at least the price of a matinee ticket to laugh for a while with your kids?


3/5 Pretty clean humor, and better than I thought it would be
  by fra7299 (California, United States)
I had my reservations going in to see this one, but it was surprisingly funny and didn't have to use much gross-out, potty humor or profanity that seems to be pervading many comedies these days in attempts to humor people. Instead, there was more slapstick style humor, and while it is the classic lovable loser meets girl scenario (except at the mall) and has its predictable moments, over all it was a pretty decent comedy.

King of Queens star Kevin James plays Paul Blart, a long time mall security guard who is a bit lonely in life because of failed relationships. When he sees a beautiful woman working in the mall, he tries to figure out a way to connect with her, but his awkwardness gets in the way of his progress. Training a new mall security guard isn't what it seems to be, as this supposed high school dropout turns out to be the brains behind a massive robbery and hostage situation. It is up to Paul Blart, the only one who takes his job too seriously, to try and save the day.

The first part of the movie was funny, but some of the gags were awkward at times (trying too hard to be funny). What James brought to the character Blart was kind of a Chris Farley/John Candy kind of persona. I thought that the later half of the film was better, even though as usual you have to throw reason out the window.

Not too bad of a film, and dare I say, it might even be one you could take a date to see.

4/5 What are you looking for?
  by Judith A. Brock (Portland, Oregon, USA)
We went to see this and loved it! It was part boy-meets-girl, part cops & robbers, part ninja stunts, part average-guy-succeeds, part sweet dad, part slapstick, part irony of human relationships, but all funny. And the music was GREAT! Went home and immediately signed up to get the sound track when it becomes available.

If I'm looking for something dark and ponderous, I watch PBS or Ingrid Bergman. If I'm looking for something factual, I watch a documentary. If I need to be updated on current events, I watch (or read)the news. But if I need to laugh hard and feel better when I leave, Mall Cop is perfect.

And the music is just terrific! Spans time and memories of my past, but is also this-very-minute, 2009. Can't wait to hear it again!

Just all depends what you're looking for. . . .

4/5 Paul Blart Is Hilarious
  by Jeffrey Cole (Indianapolis USA)
It isn't often that a movie comes out that actually makes me laugh out loud, but with Kevin James behind Paul Blart as creator and star, Mall Cop fulfills its promise to entertain.

Mall Cop isn't necessarily a movie intended for the entire family, as there is frequent use of mild profanity, but there was nothing else I could find of offense in the movie. About the first half of the movie is much like watching the Kevin James hit TV series, King of Queens, as Paul Blart is very much the same character as Doug Heffernan. At times during the first half of the movie, I found my mind wondering just a bit, or found myself not too disappointed when distracted by something my son would say or do. But about half way through the movie, when the action really kicked in and we get to see James playing the role of Paul Blart a la John McClane of Bruce Willis' Die Hard fame, I found myself engrossed.

Imagine Die Hard meets Homer Simpson, and you'll get a pretty accurate picture of what Paul Blart lives through in his dedication to defend the people of his mall against the invading force of a band of Black Friday thugs out to steal thirty million dollars worth of the credit card transactions on the busiest shopping day of the year. And just like Homer Simpson, Paul Blart manages to pull through in the end.

While I don't recommend Paul Blart Mall Cop for the entire family, it is harmless and enjoyable fare for viewers over the age of twelve or thirteen. I haven't laughed so hard at a movie in I don't know how long.

Jeff Cole is an author, blogger, and podcaster.[...]

3/5 I laughed...does that make me a bad person?
  by Steve (Virginia)
Given the large numbers of people who referred to this silly little movie as one of the worst ever, I wonder where we draw the line between critical assessment and pure gut reaction in forming our opinions of entertainment. What separates Step Brothers, which I hated, from Mall Cop, which I enjoyed? Why did this movie work whereas Funny People, another more critically received Sandler project, disappointed me?
There is little original in the story, there are the predictable credibility issues (young attractive girl falls for shleppy overweight loser - oh, what hath Seth Rogen wrought?), and there's Sandler's penchant for schlocky 80s pop music touchstones that buddy Kevin James is borrowing, but still I found myself laughing out loud during much of this movie even when I saw the gag coming from a mile away. Either my opinion isn't worth squat or the reviewers who tore this movie to shreds need to lighten up. Or maybe neither. Maybe individual taste is just too complex to figure out and the reasons we react the way we do to entertainments aren't so important after all. All I know is that I liked Mall Cop. I laughed a fair amount. I would watch it again. Does that qualify as an endorsement?