Sometimes a few good laughs is enough to make a movie
Paul Blart Mall Cop starring Kevin James, Jayma Mays and Keir
O’Donnell
Sometimes after seeing a movie, I think,
”
well, that wasn’t at all like the trailer.
”
I discovered through a
”
New Yorker
”
article I read over the weekend that there is a reason for this.
Most studios have a marketing arm that decides what to do to make a
movie draw the biggest crowd. They divide the public into four
quadrants
– women under 25, men under 25, men over 25 and women over 25 –
and the goal to make a profit on a movie is to appeal to at least
two of those groups.
Sometimes a few good laughs is enough to make a movie
Paul Blart Mall Cop starring Kevin James, Jayma Mays and Keir O’Donnell
Sometimes after seeing a movie, I think, “well, that wasn’t at all like the trailer.” I discovered through a “New Yorker” article I read over the weekend that there is a reason for this. Most studios have a marketing arm that decides what to do to make a movie draw the biggest crowd. They divide the public into four quadrants – women under 25, men under 25, men over 25 and women over 25 – and the goal to make a profit on a movie is to appeal to at least two of those groups.
According to the article, publicists play up what a movie has and marketers play up what a movie doesn’t have. It’s the reason the previews for “Marley and Me” make it look like a light-hearted, fun romp when it’s actually a tearjerker. The marketers knew the crowds would be bigger if everyone didn’t know they’d leave the theater with swollen eyes. But sometimes the movies that really hit the spot are the ones where the trailers are honest about what you are going to get.
With “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” what you see in the trailer is what you get in the full-length film. Yeah, it’s going to be dumb, but it’s probably going to make you laugh. Kevin James stars as a the underdog Paul Blart, a mall cop who just can’t seem to pass the state trooper test. He lives at home with his mother (Shirley Knight) and a ‘tween daughter named Maya (Raini Rodriguez.) The only brush with love he’s ever had was back before Maya was born when her mother married Paul just to get a green card, and then dumped him with the baby.
When he fails the physical exam for the state trooper’s test yet again – he blames it on hypoglycemia, a medical condition in which low-blood sugar makes people pass out – he goes into a funk at home that can only be filled with a slice of pie and peanut butter.
But when he goes back to work, Paul never let’s on that he’s down in the dumps. Paul takes his job seriously as a mall security officer – he argues that security “guard” is the wrong term. His work ethic and how seriously he takes mall safety comes out when he is working with trainee Veck Sims (Keir O’Donnell.) He tries to write a ticket for an elderly man on a motorized scooter who is speeding around the mall, and he tries to mediate at stores where two customers argue over the same item.
There is something about Kevin James that is just plain funny. He’s one of the few comedians who I find equally funny on a sitcom, in a movie (though “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” was a wrong turn) and doing stand-up. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that even though he is a husky guy, he can still pull off the physical stunts that make for a good laugh.
In the movie, Paul’s size is something that makes him the butt of the joke with some people. But though he doesn’t realize it, most of the people around him like him just the way he is. Even the new kiosk girl Amy (Jayma Mays) who sells hair pieces seems to take a liking to him. Of course, Paul has an instant crush on the strawberry blonde. Paul’s biggest problem, it seems, is that he doesn’t stand up for himself or have the confidence to believe people like him.
But when the mall is taken over by a group of burglars who use the names of Santa’s reindeer as their code names, Paul has to decide whether he wants to leave the job to real officers or be a hero himself. Though he doesn’t have a gun, he has a mall full of makeshift weapons with which to work. With each bad guy he picks off, Paul gains confidence that he can take on the gang single-handedly. Of course, the motivation of Amy and his daughter being held as hostages turns up the pressure.
For a few mindless laughs, and a chance to see an underdog win, Kevin James offers the perfect combination.
