Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)

January 16, 2009

January 16, 2009

Paul Blart: Mall Cop is a 2009 American action comedy film directed by Steve Carr, written by Kevin James and Nick Bakay, and produced by James, Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, Todd Garner, and Barry Bernardi. It stars James as the titular character Paul Blart, with Jayma Mays, Keir O'Donnell, Bobby Cannavale, Stephen Rannazzisi and Shirley Knight in supporting roles. The film tells the story of Blart, a single dad and a bumbling mall security guard, who finds himself in the middle of a heist and the only one in position to rescue hostages. Filming began in February 2008 with a majority of the shooting taking place at the Burlington Mall in Burlington, Massachusetts; it was produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions and in association with Relativity Media.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop was released in the United States on January 16, 2009, by Sony Pictures Releasing through its Columbia Pictures label. The film grossed $183.3 million worldwide against a production budget of $26 million, but was not well received by critics, while James' performance was generally praised. A sequel titled Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 was released in 2015.

Storyline

Paul Blart lives in West Orange, New Jerseywith his young daughter Maya and his mother. Aspiring to join the New Jersey State Police, he trains at the police academy, but his hypoglycemia causes him to collapse before finishing the physical fitness test, leading Blart to take a job as a security officer at the West Orange Pavilion Mall.

Blart patrols the mall on a Segway and begins training Veck Simms, who shows little interest in the job. Meanwhile, Blart becomes acquainted with Amy Anderson, a vendor of a new kiosk. Paul meets her one evening at a restaurant with other mall employees. Things initially go well, but when Blart participates in a nacho-eating contest with his friend Leon, the jalapeño peppers prove too spicy for him and he chugs two glasses of margarita, mistaking it for lemonade. He gets drunk and makes a wild exit by falling through a window.

Two days later on Black Friday, an organized gang of thugs disguised as Santa's Village employees begin a heist inside the mall. They take Amy and others inside a bank hostage, and Simms is revealed as the gang’s leader. The crew force the majority of shoppers to exit the mall and place motion sensors at each entrance to detect any attempt to enter or exit the building.

Blart is oblivious as he plays Rock Band before walking back into the mall to discover that it is nearly empty. He calls the police and leaves the mall, but realizes that Amy is still inside when he spots her car and returns to the mall to look for her. A SWAT team arrives with commander James Kent at the helm. Kent, a former classmate and bully from Blart's childhood, takes control of the police units and orders Blart to let them handle the situation. Blart refuses and attempts a rescue. Vastly outnumbered, he takes a stand against Simms' crew, improvising to take them down one by one. He discovers credit card codes written in invisible ink on the burglars' arms, realizing that their plans go beyond robbing the bank.

Unaware of this, Maya shows up at the mall to bring Blart some food, but Simms' henchmen seize her and add her to the hostages. Blart manages to subdue all of Simms' accomplices and attempts to rescue the hostages by pulling them up into the air vent. The plan fails when Leon does not fit. Simms enters the room, capturing Blart and forcing him to give up the codes recorded on his cell phone. Simms flees, taking Amy and Maya with him. As the SWAT team raids the mall, Blart borrows a display minivan with Kent, pursuing Simms to the airport, where he is attempting to escape to the Cayman Islands.

After a brief scuffle, Blart overpowers Simms and puts him in handcuffs. Kent pulls his gun on Blart, revealing that he was working with Simms. Kent demands the phone containing the codes from Blart, who instead destroys it. Before Kent can retaliate by shooting Blart, Chief Brooks of the mall security team arrives and shoots him in the arm. He and Simms are both arrested, and Amy and Maya are returned safely. For his bravery and assistance, Howard offers Blart a job with the New Jersey State Police. Blart declines, preferring to remain in mall security. Blart and Amy are eventually married in the mall, where they exchange vows on a set of black and white Segways.

Also See

Movie Trailer

  • Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) (Trailers)

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