The aroma of Ace Ventura, or at least some of his pets, hangs around “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” the summer Jim Carrey vehicle. Putting the comedian in a roomful of animals has worked in the past, and in general it works again here.
It’d be nice if the movie itself had more to offer, but let’s be fair: This film has no ambitions beyond getting Carrey in situations where his body and face can be stretched to their maximum boundaries.
In fact, the plot is really a hindrance to that end. The movie’s based on a beloved book that dates back to 1938, which a team of screenwriters has considerably changed around.
The new story is about that most treasured of Hollywood themes, the absent father. Carrey plays a big-time New York corporate buccaneer who lives alone in the wake of a divorce. His ex (Carla Gugino) has their two kids, and he can’t connect with them very well.
We know his own father was absent, too, because he was a world traveler. The late father’s final act was to will his son a penguin–a total of six penguins, actually–in the knowledge that somehow these tuxedoed creatures will melt his son’s cool heart.
And so Mr. Popper transforms his luxury apartment into a cold-weather roost for his feathered friends, and his stand-offish kids suddenly love coming to his place to play.
Other than allowing Carrey to do a line dance with the penguins, director Mark Waters’ most imaginative move is turning this apartment into an ice-filled skating rink. It’s winter, and Mr. Popper leaves the windows open, so the snow blows into the room in great drifts.
That’s like something out of a great children’s book, as is the very idea of playing with penguins all day. The penguins themselves are a mix of real birds and computer-generated critters (a puckish end credit states that while no penguins were harmed in the making of the film, Jim Carrey was bitten quite frequently).
Waters also directed the admirable “Mean Girls,” but here he seems to function as a traffic cop (or zoo attendant?), keeping everything straight and guiding the action to its conclusion, which even kids will be able to guess from the first five minutes.
Still, Jim Carrey does his thing, Angela Lansbury adds a bit of class (she plays the owner of Central Park’s Tavern on the Green, which Carrey’s company is trying to purchase so they can erect a giant mall or something), and Ophelia Lovibond is cute as Mr. Popper’s assistant, a pepperpot with a propensity for pronouncing her P’s.
It’s not exactly high art, but there’s something to be said for the spectacle of watching penguins slip and slide around.
As though to underline the point, the movie tells us that penguins can be pacified by watching Charlie Chaplin movies on TV, as they clearly recognize a kindred spirit in Chaplin’s black-and-white look and tottering gait. Slapstick worked then, and it still does.
“Mr. Popper’s Penguins” (2½ stars)
Jim Carrey is a man whose life is invaded by a half-dozen penguins, which force him to warm his cool heart. There’s really not much of a movie here, but Carrey and the penguins get into some old-school slapstick, and kids will love the snowy playground made out of a New York apartment.
Rated: PG for subject matter.
Showing: Alderwood, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place, Woodinville, Blue Fox Drive-In, Cascade Mall and Oak Harbor.
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