Paul Blart: Mall Cop is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Steve Carr and written by Kevin James and Nick Bakay. It stars James as Paul Blart, a mall security guard who must rescue his loved ones taken hostage by a group of thugs on the night of Black Friday. The film co-stars Jayma Mays, Keir O'Donnell, Bobby Cannavale, and Stephen Rannazzisi.
Plot[]
Paul Blart lives in West Orange, New Jersey with 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 up 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 the phone. Before Kent can retaliate by shooting Blart, Chief Brooks of the mall security team arrives and shoots Kent in the arm. Kent 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.
Cast[]
- Kevin James as Paul Blart, a dedicated Mall Security Officer suffering from hypoglycemia
- Jayma Mays as Amy Anderson, a weave and wig salesperson who Paul has an affection for
- Keir O'Donnell as Veck Simms, a security trainee and ringleader in the Mall heist
- Bobby Cannavale as Commander James Kent, a corrupt officer in New Jersey State Police SWAT team who secretly works with Veck Simms
- Adam Ferrara as Sergeant Howard, a detective in New Jersey State Police who oversees the heist/hostage situation
- Peter Gerety as Chief Brooks, Paul's supervisor
- Stephen Rannazzisi as Stuart, a pen salesman making his move on Amy
- Jamal Mixon as Leon, a heavyset mall kiosk worker
- Adhir Kalyan as Pahud, Parisa's boyfriend in contact with Paul via her phone
- Erick Avari as Vijay, owner of a cellphone kiosk who loans Paul a phone after punishing his daughter, Parisa
- Raini Rodriguez as Maya Blart, Paul's daughter
- Shirley Knight as Margaret Blart, Paul's mother
- Bernie McInerney as Old Man on Scooter
- Allen Covert as Jerky security guy
- Gary Valentine as Karaoke singer
- Mike Vallely as Rudolph, a janitor and civilized dude in the Mall heist
- Mike Escamilla as Blitzen, a janitor and civilized dude in the Mall heist
- Jason Ellis as Prancer, a janitor and civilized dude in the Mall heist
- Jason Packham as Comet, a lead janitor and lead civilized dude in the Mall heist
- Rick Thorne as Cupid, a janitor and civilized dude in the Mall heist
- Victor T. Lopez as Donner, a janitor and civilized dude in the Mall heist
- Natasha Hopkins as Vixen, a janitor and civilized dude in the Mall heist
- Mookie Barker as Mr. Ferguson
Production[]
Filming began in February 2008 with most of the shooting taking place at the Burlington Mall in Burlington, Massachusetts. The film opened in the United States on January 16, 2009, distributed by Columbia Pictures.
Reception[]
Against a budget of $26 million, it grossed $31.8 million in its opening weekend and finished with a gross of more than $146 million in North America and a worldwide total of $183 million.
Sequel[]
A sequel, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, was released in 2015. Paul Blart: Mall Cop was also remade in Tamil as Gurkha, released in 2019.