PAUL BLART: MALL COP (Rated PG)

What happens when a comedian, Kevin James, best known for his nine-year run in “The King of Queens” TV series, plays a bumbling mall cop trying to emulate Bruce Willis in “Die Hard?” The result may not be the funniest movie of the year, but it doesn’t need to be when you have a likable central character with a great talent for physical humor.

As the lumbering, unlikely action hero, Kevin James has an undeniable charismatic quality even at his most inept, shambling and awkward moments. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” for reasons almost immediately clear, is the right vehicle for James’ prodigious comic abilities.

In the titular role of Paul Blart, James employs his considerable heft as a comic vehicle. A single, suburban dad trying to make ends meet as a security officer at a massive New Jersey mall, Blart aspires to become a state trooper.

Ever-so-close to passing the exam, he continues to fail due his hypoglycemia kicking in at the most inopportune time. Still, he takes his job as mall cop very seriously, even when no one else does, including his lazy, apathetic new partner Veck Sims (Keir O’Donnell) and all his colleagues, for that matter.

Blart is on the front lines of mall safety, going so far as to flag down an elderly disabled gentleman for exceeding the speed limit on his motorized scooter. He can apprehend such scofflaws with the advantage of patrolling the expansive mall on his Segway. Blart puts to good use, at least for comedic effect, this personal transport vehicle that never caught on with the general public. The Segway is used so frequently that it should qualify for a supporting role in the credits.

Once married to an illegal immigrant who only wanted her green card, Blart lives at home with his young daughter Maya (Raini Rodriguez) and his mom (Shirley Knight), whose solution to most problems is the offering of another slice of pie. Blart observes that pie “just fills the cracks in the heart,” as he merrily slathers a big piece with peanut butter.

Though lonely and socially awkward, Blart nonetheless has his eyes on pretty Amy (Jayma Mays), who sells hair extensions at a mall kiosk. She seems amused by his attentions, even when he runs the Segway into the back of a minivan on display.

In an effort to mingle with his co-workers, Blart has too much to drink at an after-work party, turning unusually obnoxious and somewhat aggressive. Apparently, he has no capacity for alcohol, and as a result ends up with tattoos all over his back.

Even more trouble ensues when he must confront a belligerent, loud-mouthed female shopper who just happens to be as fat as he is. One unfortunate remark leads to a full-on fight, where Blart gets beat up because he won’t hit a girl.

Now that we know Blart has his foibles and weaknesses, we can only imagine what may go wrong on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when shoppers invade the mall en masse.

The film shifts abruptly into an action picture when an extreme team of villains take over the mall in order to steal customers’ credit card information. The criminals include skateboarders, BMX riders and free runners. I am not familiar with free runners, but these people display unusually agile, athletic abilities.

As part of their operation to seize control of the mall, these X-Games thugs take a few hostages, including Amy, the object of Blart’s huge crush. For his part, Blart is at first oblivious to the takeover, since he’s playing video games in a store.

To foil the dastardly scheme and to save the girl, Blart goes completely Rambo inside the mall, adapting to his natural environment in clever ways to thwart and defeat the criminals. Not surprisingly, Blart becomes a reluctant hero, even impressing the obnoxious SWAT team leader (Bobby Cannavale) who has less than fond memories of Blart from high school.

Emanating from the Adam Sandler production factory, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” is the kind of slapstick comedy one would expect, and it doesn’t disappoint. But more than just laughs at the expense of Kevin James’ girth, the movie veers off into full-blown action turf topped off with a heavy dose of sentimentality.

What makes “Paul Blart” endearing for the audience is the undeniable likability of its plus-sized hero. Kevin James just might succeed as the comic successor to the late, lovable John Candy.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

It’s fitting that appended to a movie review with the increasing rare PG rating, we should offer up an animated family film for consideration in its DVD release.

“Igor” features a stellar ensemble cast of celebrity voices. The hilarious animated twist on the classic monster movie, “Igor” has its titular character (John Cusack), as the nice-guy assistant to a mad scientist (John Cleese), creating a female Franken-monster.

But Igor’s creation, Eva (Molly Shannon), is sweet and sings show tunes. That is, until she falls into the clutches of Dr. Schadenfreude (Eddie Izzard) and his shape-shifting girlfriend (Jennifer Coolidge).

Igor and his sidekicks (Steve Buscemi and Sean Hayes) have to save Eva and their country from the evil King Malbert (Jay Leno).

Another DVD release worth mentioning is that for “The Rockford Files: Season Six, The Final Season.”

Starring James Garner, this TV series is at the top of my list, right alongside “Mannix,” for the best in crime shows.

All six seasons are good to have, but I would forget the “Rockford” TV movie specials that made a comeback about 15 years after the series ended.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

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