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BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (WCCO) ― "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" is the number one movie in the country right now. The comedy stars Kevin James as a bumbling mall security officer who crashes his Segway into a minivan and bumbles his way as he patrols a suburban mall.

The movie does little to shake stereotypes of mall officers as unqualified cop wannabes. However, Kevin James told WCCO's Angela Davis that he thinks the movie will actually help their image.

"This is their 'Rocky,'" said James.

Real security officers who patrol the Mall of America don't agree with the "Rocky" analogy. However, most of the ones we talked with during a stop at the MOA said they think the movie is pretty funny.

Doug Reynolds is the mall's security director.

"It's like what 'Animal House' does for colleges," he said in assessing the impact of the hit movie on real-life Paul Blarts.

About 100 security officers patrol the MOA, which annually draws millions of people to its shops and entertainment. They also have cops on patrol in Segways and a K-9 unit that is trained to detect explosives.

Even if they wanted to, these days, the mall cops can't escape Paul Blart. Every few minutes, the movie's trailer is broadcast on giant TVs in the mall. Many of the security officers saw a screening of the movie and even got to meet Kevin James during promotional tours earlier this month.

WCCO crime reporter Caroline Lowe asked MOA Captain Michael Rozin if he was offended by the bumbling Blart.

"It did not offend me. It's a funny movie," said Rozin.

"I laughed maybe louder than anybody else in the theater and took it with a grain of salt," Reynolds said.

Rozin also laughed when he saw how easy it was to get hired at Paul Blart's mall.

"In the movie, if he's got a pulse, he's good. He's upright, alright let's hire him!" said Reynolds.

Like Blart, 80 percent of MOA security officers hope to get jobs some day as police officers.

"If they can put on their resumes hey I worked at the Mall of America as a security officer, people understand that I bet that person can interact with the public," said Reynolds.

However, to even get hired at the Mall of America, the real Paul Blarts have to go through extensive background checks, interviews and then about six weeks of training. Their assignment is to provide service and protection to the 40 million people who visit the mall every year.

"It is like a little city. You get everything from the small minor crimes to the suicides," said Rozin.

Mall security officers work closely with Bloomington Police who have their own substation at the mall. As a police officer, Sgt. Rick Hart is no stranger to stereotypes.

"Most of the people that I know that work for mall security are professional and they understand that it's humor," said Hart.

While they all laugh about the mall cop movie, one concern is no joke.

Since 9/11, a big part of the security focus at the MOA is to keep this symbol of capitalism safe from bad guys with a lot more serious criminal plans than shoplifting

"I came from Israel. And in Israel, I served in Israel Defense Forces," said Rozin. He's in charge of the counter terrorism security unit at the mall that includes explosives detection dogs.

"There's the symbolic value of it and the crowd that it brings," said Rozin.

Before leaving the mall, Lowe had one last question for Rozin.

"On a scale of one to four, how many stars would he give the Paul Blart: Mall Cop movie?" she asked.

"Probably 2 and a half," said Rozin with a laugh.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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