3/09/2009

Paul Blart: Mall Cop vs. Slumdog Millionaire

These two movies are currently in wide release at your local cinema, and have been for about 8 weeks. Slumdog Millionaire has been out for a much longer period of time, and due to its Oscar nomination and win has enjoyed a much longer ride in theaters.

Now these two movies couldn’t be any more different - Paul Blart: Mall Cop is a goofy dopey slapstick comedy about a mall cop that stars Kevin James. The other is an inspirational, touching, and engaging story about an Indian boy who beats all odds and becomes a millionaire on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. So why am I talking about the two of them at the same time?

Shockingly, in this weekend’s box office report, I see that Paul Blart: Mall Cop has grossed more in its 8 weeks of release than Slumdog’s 17 weeks of theater release. Mall Cop’s cumulative gross in 8 weeks: $133.6 mil vs. Slumdog’s 17-week cumulative gross: $125.4 mil. That means Mall Cop would more than double Slumdog’s gross if the two movies are in the theaters for the same time. More people are willing to pay money to watch goofy Paul Blart than Jamal of Slumdog.

These two films aren’t even comparable in terms of their quality - script, meaning, educational value, cultural relevance, director, editing, cinematography, acting, you name it, Slumdog is all around a better film. Yet Mall Cop outperforms. Mall Cop has a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes while Slumdog enjoys an extremely high rating of 94%. What does this tell us about America’s taste in films? Or perhaps this is an indication of our times.

Now I understand that Mall Cop is probably a more palatable film to the mass audience - it’s PG so it’s family friendly, and designed to appeal to movie watchers of all ages. Slumdog Millionaire is rated R, which prevents families from taking their kids to go and watch it. But is that enough to invite twice the ticket sales? I’m skeptical.

My first reaction upon reading the box office results was shock and awe, and frankly, disgust in our nation’s taste in movies. Every time the Mall Cop commercial came up on TV everyone’s reaction has been, oh what a dumb movie. It looked so dumb that I was sure it was going to tank in the theaters. (Now don’t get me wrong, I love Kevin James. He’s very lovable and was great in Hitch, but this movie just seems lame.) Slumdog, on the other hand, has been building in anticipation due to strong word-of-mouth and critical review. Everyone I talk to wants to see it or has already seen it. Yet the dumb movie is what triumphs in the business.

Thinking a little more about this phenomenon, I can’t help but reflect on why this may be the case. I’m pretty sure that in general comedies fare better than dramas, especially dramas about foreign cultures. But the numbers were pretty shocking to me. Perhaps it’s because of our grim financial state that Mall Cop is triumphing in box office sales. People need something light-hearted and silly to relieve them of the stress and doom in real life. Much like the success of movies, in particular comedies, during the Depression. For that, I applaud Kevin James and crew for making Mall Cop. It might just be what we need in light of current events.