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Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Columbia Pictures (Sony)


5.6

based on 23 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 31 votes
Read user comments
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MPAA RATING: PG for some violence, mild crude and suggestive humor, and language

Starring Kevin James, Jayma Mays, Keir O'Donnell, Bobby Cannavale, Stephen Rannazzisi, and Shirley Knight

Paul Blart is a single, suburban dad, trying to make ends meet as a security officer at a New Jersey mall. Though no one else takes his job seriously, Paul considers himself on the front lines of safety. When a heist shuts down the megaplex, Jersey's most formidable mall cop will have to become a real cop to save the day. (Sony Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Comedy
WRITTEN BY:	Kevin James Nick Bakay
DIRECTED BY:	Steve Carr
RELEASE DATE:	Theatrical: January 16, 2009
RUNNING TIME:	minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly Adam Markovitz

Has a few surprises in store. The biggest is James, an unexpectedly nimble master of the face-plant, the failed jump, and the lopsided tumble.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It's as slam-bang preposterous as any R-rated comedy you can name. It's just that Paul Blart and the film's other characters don't feel the need to use the f-word as the building block of every sentence.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Although Paul Blart is by no means great cinema, there is amusement to be uncovered as we watch Kevin James bumble his way through actions oh-so-similar to those navigated with more blood, sweat, profanity, and dead bodies than Willis. Too bad there's no "Yippekayay...."

New York Post Kyle Smith

It's fine for kids, though, and it doesn't try too hard.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

The bad guys just seem like a bunch of X-Games rejects, and Blart's ingenuity proves way more effective than it has any right to be.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter

Thanks to a tight script and brisk pacing from director Steve Carr (Daddy Day Care, Dr. Doolittle 2), there's little fat in Mall Cop, save the a yawn-inducing parade of fat-guy jokes.

LA Weekly Luke Y. Thompson

Done as an all-out battle to the death, this could have been an entertaining mix of "Die Hard" and "The A-Team."

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

The film is completely forgettable, frequently funny and weirdly satisfying in a Jersey Loser Gets Respect kind of way.

Washington Post Jen Chaney

Mediocre, unmemorable comedy.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Travis Nichols

The only real difference between this and the handful of other Happy Madison flicks is that James (executive producer, co-writer, star) has made this Sandleresque movie family-friendly, with very little swearing, no nudity and all the edginess of a "King of Queens" rerun.

Los Angeles Times Glenn Whipp

Underneath all the cartoonish mall mayhem and silly slapstick lies a comedy that aspires to be the sort of gentle crowd-pleaser John Hughes used to make.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

James has a sweet, appealing presence, but the dreary, joke-light script and generic direction do him no favors.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Great comics from Jerry Lewis to Peter Sellers have turned pathetic into comedic. But James never seems to able to get beyond pathetic.

Variety Brian Lowry

An almost shockingly amateurish one-note-joke comedy.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Perfectly inoffensive and almost entirely unfunny, Paul Blart: Mall Cop is more of a numbing experience than a painful one.

The New York Times Nathan Lee

A tossed-off comedy from Adam Sandler's production company that makes one long for the comparative genius of "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry."

USA Today Claudia Puig

The last name Blart may be the funniest thing in the movie, so that's a hint as to just how bad this shopping-center saga can be.

Film Threat Michael Ferraro

Director Steve Carr ("Daddy Day Care") tries nothing new in the world of aesthetics. Should be no surprise considering that any film put out by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions doesn't really need to take any kind of cinematic risk.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

To call this Kevin James comedy fatuous might be misinterpreted as an attack on the star's girth--so how about inane, tepid, lazy, puerile, phony, and unfunny?

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

The action sequences are just as ridiculous as the romance parts, but at least James seems comfortable with the pratfalls and gross-out scenarios.

TV Guide Perry Seibert

James plays it safe. And, short of unfunny, safe is the worst thing a comedian can be.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Paul Blart: Mall Cop deserves to be cited for loitering.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Looks like something stubbed out in an ashtray.

The average user rating for this movie is 5.6 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Gary M. gave it a7:
Come on people. This movie is exactly what it says it will be. It's a spoof. It's a really good Die Hard spoof. Kevin James is the lovable loser that we look for in these movies. I smell another Paul Blart flick coming. It's made 100 mil. Good stuff.

daryl s gave it an8:
Good dumb fun. You know what the movie is about, you have seen it in 100's of comedy movies. However it does it well. Should have a long life on cable.

casey n. gave it an8:
Movie is a throwback to 90's comedies. Not to serious, and just funny.

matthew a. gave it a0:
The real question is how any self-respecting critic could give this movie a "green" rating. Each of them should lose their job immediately.

Ben L gave it an8:
Pretty good. A mix of funny comedy, and a twinge of romance and a dash of action.

Brian L gave it an8:
Sheesh reviewers are harsh. The beginning might seem like it might lead to a meiocre movie, but it iis really fun as it goes on. the downside is that you really won't care about it 2 hours after you see it, but it still is a movie i would recommend.

Peter A gave it a3:
It's another one of those could be funny movies but it takes no risks and the majority of the jokes were in the trailer.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop Columbia Pictures (Sony)

Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Columbia Pictures (Sony)