MovieChat Forums > Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) Discussion > I don't care what anyone says...I liked ...

I don't care what anyone says...I liked it.

posted 14 years ago by ConnerysToupee
36 replies | jump to latest

I know that there is not much love for this movie. While I admit it did have its ups and downs, I still liked it a whole bunch. I watched it with my daughter who is 9 years old. I wasn't expecting much, but I do like Kevin James and was willing to give it a chance.

I found James' performance to be very solid. He sells the "poor, portly, ignored romanticly, underdog" very well. I really enjoyed the cast of supporting performers; some very good characters (Gary Valentine, Stuart the pen salesman, Pahud the ex-boyfriend, etc).

[–] stevenackerman69 14 years ago

I've seen most of it, and I'm impressed by it. You might think it is Die Hard in a Mall, but there are some interesting twists:
1. The hero isn't a thin guy in shape, as these movies usually show.
2. No hostage casualities!!!!!
3. When Paul attempts to jump on the van, he misses. That is like an Airplane! spoof here.

[–] csweetleaf2 14 years ago

I thought it was a really good movie myself and the movie flowed at a very fast pace, my favorite character of the movie was Commander James Kent and I loved seeing what happens to him at the end of the movie

[–] nicholasjameslynch 8 years ago

That's what I thought, I just hatched it yesterday, and I thought it was great.

[–] qwertymmii 14 years ago

I wan't expecting much since the critics were basically brutal. I rented it this past weekend and am I glad I did. Very Funny. My son said "This is Die Hard for kids!" Of course now everyone wants a Segway for Christmas.

[–] nunyerbiz 14 years ago

Yea, I don't get what the expectations were from the general population and critics. I didn't see it until DVD, but all the trailers I remember seeing basically presented this as a lightweight, root for the underdog comedy... and I thought it delivered just fine in that regard. Kevin James did a good job of playing the lovable loser, the John Candy comparisons I've read are spot on... and while Candy was the master of the sympathetic loser, James was a great poor man's version.

Sure, the script was a little weak in the areas I expected to be weak... the villians / skater gang was a contrivance that didn't really work... But overall I didn't find anything terribly wrong with the movie. I suppose if you must have depth and subtlety in every comedy you watch, Paul Blart won't work for you... but that doesn't preclude the things it does well just because it's not your cup of tea.

[–] janesays218 14 years ago

Just saw it on cable. It wasn't that bad. I'm no Kevin James fan, but I enjoyed it for what it was. I took it as a Die Hard parody.

[–] mrdwaynej 14 years ago

Well, I thought it was pretty bad.

[–] desmei 14 years ago

Uh, it was pretty crappy. I bought a used Blockbuster copy for my kids and popped it in last night. It was AWFUL. I thought it would be hilarious (in a juvenile sort of way) from the trailers, but once again, all the funny stuff was IN the trailer. Not one laugh out loud moment.

I did like that there was no sex, violence, or swearing so that my kids can watch it, but I was let down by the plot and the acting. James was good, as was the little girl who played his daughter, but that was about it.

I hope my kids like it better than I did...

[–] sg_17 14 years ago

Uh, why don't you ask them?

[–] HomicidalManiac 14 years ago

I really liked it. It entertained me and I just overall like Kevin James' acting in his movies.

[–] FrankBooth_DeLarge 14 years ago

It's not a high quality movie, but it sure as hell kept me entertained the whole way through and had some good laughs in it. It makes for a good family movie too.

[–] treedcub 14 years ago

I really enjoyed it too. I love Kevin James, and I loved his little family. Maybe not ground breaking, but very sweet.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] TopNotch713 14 years ago

I absolutely LOVE this movie! Kevin James is hilarious in this IMO!

[–] sj3059 11 years ago

I too found it to be delightfully funny, though clearly geared toward a younger, more innocent audience. I'm not going to write a review, because it obviously wasn't meant to be a groundbreaking, Oscar-worthy, thought-provoking film. It was just plain funny.

James Oglethorpe: Philanthropist by day, Philanderer by night

[–] bill_kilgore 14 years ago

I saw this last night and thought it was okay. It's just a lightweight comedy, not meant to be taken seriously. When you take it as that it works well. As someone posted earlier, it was good that there was no sex or profanity in it, with minimal violence, also. There were a few genuinely funny scenes, like the one when Paul gets drunk at the party.

[–] Bilwick1 14 years ago

Me too--much better than I expected. Not great, but good. Accomplished what it set out to do. And surprisingly touching, too. I got a little verklempt when Amy kissed Paul. Kevin James has a Jackie Gleason-like ability to show the pathos behind the comic fat-man character.