MR POPPER'S PENGUINS (2011)

Genre: Comedy
Director: Mark Waters
Cast: Jim Carrey,Carla Gugino, Ophelia Lovibond, Philip Baker Hall, Andrew Stewart-Jones, James Tupper, Clark Gregg, David Krumholtz, Angela Lansbury
RunTime: 1 hr 35 mins
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Rating: PG
Official Website: http://www.popperspenguins.com/

Opening Day: 16 June 2011

Synopsis: In this family comedy, Jim Carrey is Mr. Popper, a driven businessman who is clueless when it comes to the important things in life ?until he inherits six penguins. Popper's penguins turn his swank New York apartment into a snowy winter wonderland ?and the rest of his life upside-down. Filmed on a refrigerated soundstage with real Gentoo Penguins, "Mr. Popper's Penguins" is a contemporary adaptation of the classic book.

Movie Review:

Not since Ace Ventura has Jim Carrey played opposite animals, but he does just that- next to six gentoo penguins to be exact- in this contemporary adaptation of the 1938 classic children’s book by Richard and Florence Atwater. The setting has been updated to modern-day New York, but the premise of a businessman called Mr. Popper who inherits six penguins remains largely similar. Rather than an eccentric relative, the inheritance here instead comes from Mr. Popper’s father, a globetrotter who has never been around for much of his son’s life.

And as formula would have it, Mr. Popper has also not been much of a father to his two children- a teenage daughter Janie (Madeline Carroll) and a young son Billy (Maxwell Perry Cotton). He is also separated from his wife Amanda (Carla Gugino), choosing to devote his time to his real-estate job in an effort to climb up the echelons of the company. Again, as formula would have it, Mr. Popper receives his father’s inheritance just when he is one deal short of joining the firm as a partner- the clincher an iconic Tavern on the Green restaurant in Central Park owned by a feisty old woman Mrs. Van Gundy (Angela Lansbury).

The untimely gift however becomes a blessing in disguise, a tool if you will, for Mr. Popper to acquaint himself with his children, especially Billy who can't seem to get enough of the Subarctic flightless birds. He soon develops a change of heart- and instead of devising ways to get rid of them, starts to learn on how best to take care of them, even going to the extent of turning his house into a winter wonderland for their comfort. The rest of the plot unfolds pretty much as you'd expect it to, right down to its denouement where Mr. Popper's personal and professional life collide. 

Indeed, no less than three writers (Sean Anders, John Morris and John Stern) worked on the screenplay, but there is little originality in their adaptation. Even the villain of the movie, the New York Zoo official Nat Jones (Clark Gregg buying time before next summer’s The Avengers) seems no more than a perfunctory character introduced to bring the movie to some kind of a climax. Yet the fact that the film remains surprisingly entertaining despite their middling script is a testament to Jim Carrey’s comedic talents.

Carrey is a master of slapstick and he uses his flair for physical comedy to great effect here. Much of the fun comes from watching Carrey interact with the six penguins, each one of them given a name which represents their behavioural inclinations. Carrey’s initial exasperation with the six new occupants of his swanky New York City apartment is a hoot to watch, and his eventual bonding with the birds is equally hilarious- Carrey demonstrating once again that he is easily one of the most physically expressive comedians in Hollywood.

He also has a great sense of comedic timing, especially telling in his wise-cracking delivery. The fast-talking shtick recalls his earlier Ace Ventura days, and his perfectly-timed, deadpan delivery of punch-lines such as this- “Somewhere out there, there’s a giant sentence missing an ending” when looking at an art piece resembling a large round dot in the Guggenheim Museum- shows that he has lost none of that Midas touch. Yes, Carrey is through and through a consummate comedian, and his uproarious performance is truly entertaining.

Of course, the kids will inevitably be more enthralled by the flightless sextet- the squawky Loudy, the hugger Lovey, the farter Stinky, the clumsy Nimrod, the biter Bitey and the leader of the pack Captain- and director Mark Waters (better known for his much less CGI-ed comedies Mean Girls and Freaky Friday) does a fantastic job combining the real animals with CGI. Waters also milks what cute potential there is within the penguins and their respective characteristics to largely charming effect, and this is a movie parents can rest assured that the kids will love.

As is typical of such fare, there is a final message about the importance of staying together as family- although it isn’t as heartfelt as it should be, thanks to the lacklustre plotting. Nevertheless, there is great family fun to be had here- the kids with the lovable and even irresistible penguins, and the adults with the rubber-faced Jim Carrey back in Ace Ventura-mode- and perhaps there is all one should ask of a family-friendly comedy like this. 

Movie Rating:

(Jim Carrey makes a welcome return back to pure comedy mode, and this movie delivers just the kind of winning family fun it promises)

Review by Gabriel Chong