June Movie #5: Mr. Popper's Penguins

Starring: Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Angela Lansbury, Ophelia Lovibond, Madeline Carroll
Directed By: Mark Waters
Run Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Mr. Popper's Penguins is about a slick career driven divorced real estate agent named Tom Popper (played by Carrey) whose explorer father sends him a penguin as a memento from his last trip. Popper thinks he's sending the penguin back but instead orders five more. He calls every agency in New York to pick up the penguins but before one does, his children fall in love with the birds. Popper then realizes that the penguins are the key to getting his family to like him. Popper's life turns upside down.

Think of this movie as a kind of a toned-down Ace Ventura meets Liar, Liar (the family dynamics thing). If you liked one or both of these movies, you'll like this one.

There are a couple of different levels to this movie. First, there are the family dynamics. Popper has family issues because his father, the great explorer, was never home. Popper felt abandoned and the free spirit in him was erased. He tries extra hard to be cool and there for his children, who in turn pull away from him... until the penguins arrive. Next we have the penguins themselves, which lend themselves to seven year old boy humor (a farting penguin, for one).  And then there's the magical whimsy that the Tavern on the Green experience created. There's a bit of a fairy tale to it.

I rather liked this movie. I absolutely loved seeing Angela Lansbury back on screen. I hadn't seen any previews with her in it so it was a nice surprise. She looked wonderful. I also loved the character Pippi... She talked only in Ps. Quite lovely tongue twisters. So which came first, the title of the movie (which is a tongue twister) or the character who talks in tongue twisters with Ps? I'd like to think the title came first and they built a character to poke fun at the title.  And I loved the full circle when Quint was introduced. Pippi was fun.

This movie had some cute lines. "That's not my penguin" made me laugh many times. I was a little disappointed with the penguins. I thought they'd be cuter. For the most part, it was obvious that they were animatron penguins (because I don't think penguins fart on command and despite the fact that there now have been two movies that insinuate that penguins like to dance, I don't think they can learn intricate choreography) but there were times where I kept thinking, "Hey, wait. Now it looks real."  They did use real penguins for some scenes.

There were some things that bothered me about the movie. How easy is it to clean up snow from an apartment? For that matter, how easy is it to keep an apartment cold enough to keep snow? And then there were the eggs. Don't penguin eggs need heat? Isn't that what March of the Penguins taught us? If the males don't keep the eggs under them and warm, they won't hatch? Of course, those few things bothered me. I totally bought that five penguins can fit and live in a crate shipped from Antarctica to New York City... and pass Customs (I mean, what could someone besides a penguin ship from Antarctica?). And that the penguins could live in an apartment. And navigate NYC streets.

This is a very sweet movie. I rather enjoyed it. It was predictable and a little campy but still quite entertaining. It could have been funnier. I didn't laugh as much as I wanted. I mean, penguins! Jim Carrey. Penguins!  Perhaps the writers put too much into the tongue twisters and not enough thought about the penguins. I mean, even their names were mundane. But I liked it. A great movie for a little one. They'll love the farting penguin. Love it. Even I was slightly amused.