For some reason I was under the impression Jim Carrey already made his penguin movie. Doesn’t it seem like it? Am I the only one who had to ask himself that question coming out of “Mr. Popper’s Penguins”?
Turns out this is his first, and it’s not bad (optional “!” goes here). Director Mark Waters’ film stars Carrey, some real penguins and some computer-generated penguins. Together they deliver the expected, albeit with a lighter touch and a nicer sheen (thanks to cinematographer Florian Ballhaus), than most of producer John Davis’ previous family-friendly commodities. That list includes “Garfield,” “Daddy Day Care” and “Dr. Dolittle” plus sequels. With some sentences, listing the titles is enough.
Given the story changes, it’s a miracle “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” works at all. In the Depression-shadowed 1938 book by Richard and Florence Atwater, Popper barely gets by as a house painter. Such a scenario would never get by the average early 21st century Hollywood studio development desk. So: Popper has been transformed into the latest in a long line of sarcastic, materialistic jerks showcased by PG-rated comedies. This hollow man waiting to be filled exists outside current economic conditions and must learn, through comedy and a little heartbreak, that money isn’t everything. Kids come first. Before penguins, even.
Charged by his business partners to secure the ownership of Tavern on the Green in Central Park, Popper, a cagey Park Avenue manipulator and divorced father of two, looks on his every-other-weekend custody arrangement as a low-level hassle at best. His ex (Carla Gugino, whose very casting suggests the hero was a fool to let her character go) has moved on to a new relationship. Popper, meantime, whose own explorer father wasn’t around much, receives a crated gift from his dad after he passes. Inside the crate is a penguin. Later, more penguins arrive, and suddenly Popper’s 3,200-square-foot Manhattan town house (the script goes out of its way to specify the square footage) becomes an attractively chaotic and lived-in destination for Popper’s kids.
Others, of course, do not like this development, including a zealous zoo official (“flightless bird division”) played by Clark Gregg. He is quite deft in his finessing of a routine foil. He’s not alone; the impressive supporting cast also features Angela Lansbury as the Tavern on the Green owner skeptical of Popper’s character. As Popper’s madly alliterative assistant, Pippi (“Mr. Popper, we’re pulling up presently”), Ophelia Lovibond works near-wonders with a one-track joke.
Director Waters did the “Freaky Friday” remake as well as “Mean Girls,” and knows enough not to turn a slapstick melee into a headache. A scene set at a Guggenheim museum gala, disrupted by penguins, manages some nicely staged physical comedy. (Waters has an instinct for when to keep the camera at a respectful middle distance from a pratfall, which tends to make pratfalls funnier.) It’s Carrey’s show, primarily. He favors restraint when he can get away with it here. Now and then he does some actual interacting with his fellow actors, among them the excellent Madeline Carroll as daughter Janie. While parents (well, this parent) might’ve done without the references to Viagra and “The Hurt Locker,” nothing in the business models as established and followed, profitably, by producer Davis would suggest that charm and a fidelity to the spirit of a beloved book has anything to do with making a buck.
MPAA rating: PG (for mild rude humor and some language)
Cast: Jim Carrey (Mr. Popper); Carla Gugino (Amanda); Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Van Gundy); Ophelia Lovibond (Pippi); Clark Gregg (Nat Jones); Madeline Carroll (Janie); Maxwell Perry Cotton (Billy)
Credits: Directed by Mark Waters; written by Sean Anders, John Morris and Jared Stern; based on the novel by Richard and Florence Atwater; produced by John Davis. A 20th Century Fox release. Running time: 1:35
