Criminy, I love that quote from Payne ... it's awesome.

GREAT post Scott,

HUGE fan of Kevin James. He does physical humor extreamly well. Used to get my dose of that from ABC's "According to Jim," but I don't think that show's still running. Did you see "Hitch?" Kevin James really showed his acting chops in that one. Was VERY impressed.

I think sympathetic protagonists work best when you have a lot of eye candy, or bizzare circumstances going on arround them. You use sympathetic protagonist when you're really trying to get the audience to slip into the skin of say a Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller or her Renee Zellwegger ("Bridget Jones Diary) character and go for a ride.

The first script I ever wrote, a screwball romantic comedy entittled, "Give It Up for Chimpy" has a sympathetc protagonist. Coverage notes indicated he needed some developement, BUT he was a bit underdeveloped for a reason -- I wanted my audience to experience his bizzare circumstances and other characters in his life through his skin.

THAT said I think the type of character Paul Blart vs. who I wrote are different types of sympathetic characters. But then so is Tom Hank's character from "Sleepless in Seattle" vs. Paul Blart.

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

P.S. "... I hesitate to say "Plot Spoilers Ahead" because this is the type of movie where everything is extremely obvious..."

VERY FUNNY. Dude, you should be inserting more funny phrases like this in your posts. Why so serious?

The fact that you suffered through the Blart movie solidifies your status as the most admirable script blogger I know.

Talk about taking one for the team!

Even the TRAILER for this thing was interminable.

Watch it make a mint.

*sigh*

I do think that kids need to be dealt a bit of what we, as adults, see as overkill. Kids tend to see things much more black and white, good vs. evil, and adults see in many shades of gray. Therefore, that good vs. evil must be very well established for them, with emphasis as to who the good is.

I mean, think about the eponymous Dexter. On the outside he is as morally bankrupt as any. He's a freaking serial, for goodness sakes. Yet as adults we still love him, while any kid in their right mind would hate him...simply because they would not be able to see the good done within his evil. That show is not the black and white they need to understand.

It's pretty fascinating, I must say.