Movie Reviews: Hotel for Dogs, Notorious, Paul Blart, Mall Cop

PAUL BLART, MALL COP Somewhere beneath its mediocre comedic trappings, there’s a decent action movie trying to fight its way free from Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which stars Kevin James as an overweight regular joe who can use only the items in the mall where he works to fight obnoxious extreme sports athletes with guns. Done as an all-out battle to the death, this could have been an entertaining mix of Die Hard and The A-Team; the movie briefly sputters to life when the passive policeman-in-training actually has to fight, and becomes a badass for a second or two. Alas, it takes forever for the plot proper to kick in — meanwhile, there are endless fat jokes, which even Chris Farley would have rejected, and numerous plugs for the Segway and Perfectmatch.com. That this is a Happy Madison production suggests that James’ starring role here is a reward for being in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry; that previous Adam Sandler rewards to his friends have included Grandma’s Boy and Strange Wilderness ought to be sufficient warning of what to expect. (Citywide) (Luke Y. Thompson)