The Appeal Of Paul Blart

It took me a while, but I understand the appeal of Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

The commercials make the film look absolutely dreadful, with a few dumb laughs, and, during Oscar season with the nationwide release of films like Revolutionary Road, Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler, this strategy is brilliant.

Here are the projected end-of-the-weekend totals…

1. Paul Blart: Mall Cop – $21.5 million this weekend, for a total two-week gross of $64.8 million
2. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans – $20.7 million
3. Gran Torino – $16 million, for a total gross of $97.5 million
4. Hotel for Dogs
5. Slumdog Millionaire, $10.5 million

“This movie was not made for the critics, it was made for the audience, and that certainly paid off,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office tracking and analysis firm Media By Numbers. “Its going to to be a $100 million-plus movie now and I don’t think anybody thought that was possible.”

That line: “This movie was not made for the critics” basically says that the audiences seeing this film are stupider than the well-educated critics.

Which is why this strategy is brilliant.  Movies like Paul Blart perfectly off-set Oscar-worthy films like Revolutionary Road and The Wrestler. It allows audiences to choose between high-brow films that make you work, which often leave you depressed (RR is the best example of this) and Paul Blart where he saves the day and everything is cheery along the way.

Blart is the type of film that puzzles analysts of the film industry because it looks so bad, but when there are only two categories of film one is forced to choose from, then films like Paul Blart are going to win sometimes.