Mr Popper's Penguins: Movie Review

Mr Popper's Penguins: Movie Review

Mr Popper's Penguins
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Penguins - six of 'em
Director: John Davis
So, school holidays are under way and there's plenty of clamouring for the family dollar at the box office.
This time, Jim Carrey stars as Thomas Popper, a real estate buyer for a firm, who's a separated dad from his son and daughter.
Popper Senior spent most of his life travelling around the world and never being present for his son, so when pops pops his clogs, Popper Jr is left a crate, in which he assumes, is a stuffed penguin from his father's world trips.
Trouble is that penguin comes to life and starts wreaking havoc in Popper's house - and at a time when he's got job stresses and trying to secure a building from a cantankerous elderly buyer (Angela Lansbury), it's not exactly what Popper needs.
And things get worse, when another five penguins show - soon, Popper's personal life is on the up while his work life is taking a slide down...
Mr Popper's Penguins is fairly inoffensive family fare - with a message of holding onto your loved ones as tight as you can for as long as you can, it's clear what this at times predictable piece is trying to achieve.
Jim Carrey's got a nice vein of sadness running through his Popper and Carla Gugino makes an affable enough foil to his career obsessed business man ways.
It's probably pitched a little towards the younger end (Popper gets a football in the groin and head a couple of times) and there's some penguins with wind which threaten to turn it into Mr Pooper's Penguins at one point - but the smaller kids in the audience won't mind.
Mr Popper's Penguins isn't too bad - it's neither here nor there in terms of entertainment; there are a few moments which the kids will love (turning a museum do into a water slide scored the biggest laughs for the funny fowl and their followers in the audience) but the parents may find their patience is a little tested by this.