Paul Blart: Mall Cop

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.

Empire Simon Braund

Hardly promising but, thanks to James' winningly gung-ho underdog and the fat-man grace he brings to a pratfall, unexpectedly watchable.

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.