In Laman's Terms: Ten Years of Paul Blart: Mall Cop

In Laman's Terms is a weekly editorial column where Douglas Laman rambles on about certain topics or ideas that have been on his mind lately. Sometimes he's got serious subjects to discuss, other times he's just got some silly stuff to shoot the breeze about. Either way, you know he's gonna talk about something In Laman's Terms!

Nobody farts in Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

A peculiar observation? Perhaps. But it's also a trait that makes it immediately stand out from other Happy Madison comedies (most of them starring Adam Sandler) like Jack & Jill, Grown Ups and the like. Farts are the bread & butter of these yukfests, so you'd think the first Happy Madison vehicle solely headlined by Kevin James would be packed to the gills with flatulence. Why, the main character's last name even rhymes with farts for God's sake! But in a twist so shocking it might as well have come out of an M. Night Shyamalan movie, not a single soul passes gas in the 2009 Steve Carr directorial effort Paul Blart: Mall Cop, nor are there any other traces of bathroom humor, making one wonder if this really is a Happy Madison production from the 2000s.

Paul Blart 2 Is Coming. You Can't Stop It. Here's It's First Trailer.

I'm sure you're expecting from that title to see some cynical fellow berating the original Paul Blart feature, but you know what? I liked that film, a lot actually. Blart was a likable enough protagonist, the movie had some solid laughs deriving from slapstick, overall, it made for an entertaining hour-and-a-half. When it debuted in January 2009, I was not the only one to have positive things to say about Blart, as his movie wound up shocking everyone and made $146 million at the domestic box office.