Mr. Popper's Penguins

It does not take long for Mr. Popper's Penguins to show us on what level it's working on, as less than a minute after we get our first glimpse of the first penguin, we get our first penguin poop joke. At the very least, as far as mild summer entertainment for kids goes, this is much better than last weekend's obnoxious Judy Moody. Kids are sure to be delighted by the antics of the penguins, and adults will find it watchable and pleasant, but not the slightest bit engaging.

The film is loosely based on the classic children's novel by Richard and Florence Atwater, and by "loosely based", I mean the filmmakers should have shown a sliver of originality and come up with their own title, as the source material and the film have so little in common. Jim Carrey is Tom Popper, a sleek and smooth talking New York businessman, whose job is to buy old landmark buildings, then arrange for their demolition, so his bosses can build new ones in their place. He lives alone in a penthouse, but is on pretty good terms with his ex-wife (Carla Gugino) and their two kids (Maxwell Perry Cotton and Madeline Carroll). He's even trying his best to make up with his wife and get his family back together, although he still has a problem concentrating too much on his job, and not enough on his kids, which seems to be the unwritten rule that every lead parent figure in a kid's comedy must overcome. Tom's father (who recently passed away) was never there much for him either growing up, as his dad was an explorer, and always going to far-off places. Shortly after word reaches that Tom's father has passed, a wooden crate arrives on Tom's doorstep from the arctic - the last place his dad was before he died.

The crate turns out to hold a live penguin, which immediately makes itself at home in Tom's place. Why the father sent his son a penguin is never quite explained. There's a note with the bird, but it doesn't explain that much. A couple days later, a second crate arrives with even more penguins. It's a credit to director Mark Waters (Ghost of Girlfriends Past) that he doesn't try to humanize the animals, although they do exhibit simple enough behavior that can work as visual gags (one poops, one's clumsy, one screams all the time, etc.). Tom initially wants nothing to do with the birds, but when his kids and ex-wife fall in love with them, he slowly starts to grow attached to them as well, and finds ways to keep them comfortable in his apartment, such as leaving his windows and doors open at all times in the dead of winter, so that snow is covering every inch of his apartment, or playing Charlie Chaplin movies 24 hours a day on the TV, which the penguins seem to be drawn to.

That's pretty much all there is to Mr. Popper's Penguins, unfortunately. Jim Carrey is quite likable, and unlike some other comic stars in family films (like Eddie Murphy), he doesn't seem to be simply cashing a paycheck, and even gets a couple good lines in. But, the fact remains, there's just not a whole lot to the movie. There's a subplot about Tom trying to convince an independent-minded old woman (Angela Lansbury) into selling the Tavern on the Green, so his bosses can build a new restaurant in its place. The penguins become so comfortable in Popper's apartment, they start mating (off camera, of course) and laying eggs. And there's also an evil animal control officer who wants to send the penguins to a zoo and separate them. Will he succeed? I'd tell you, but I hate reviews that give away the ending. The real suspense lies in whether or not the Popper family will become whole again. And since Tom and his ex-wife, Amanda, seem quite close to each other even early on, we're not exactly waiting on pins and needles for the answer.

On the plus side, the penguins are kind of cute, and it can sometimes be hard to tell when they're using live penguins, and when they're using CG. (Except for an elaborate scene at the Guggenheim Museum, and a sequence where one of the penguins learns how to fly with the aid of a hang glider.) The movie never offends, and the cast does have its bright spots. I guess this will be enough for the kids. Sometimes, though, I just want a little more from my movies.

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