Get the feedPopper's Problem for Parents
Friday, Jun 17th 2011
Jim Carrey has considerable frenetic appeal as an actor for kids’ flicks. Unfortunately, his talent is wasted, as is the beloved source material, in the dreary and mucky “Mr. Popper’s Penguins.” At least for parents. Kids will love it, which is a problem. With as little objectionable content as wit, and with those adorable penguins drawing in the little ones, parents are going to have to think up clever excuses to get out of this movie.
Carrey plays Mr. Popper, a father whose marriage has failed. Only seeing his teen daughter Janie (Madeline Carroll) and tween son Billy (Maxwell Perry Cotton) on alternate weekends, he pours himself into his job at a high-flying Manhattan real estate firm. Sad about the dissolution of his family, and still in love with his ex Amanda (Carla Gugino), he can’t quite find the key to reconnect with them.
That is until his explorer father sends him a live penguin. Five more follow and soon the entire Popper family embarks on a quest to make the perfect icy home for the waddling guests. They also want to protect them from a dastardly zookeeper who – of all things! – thinks the Antarctic flock would be better off in a zoo.
Much to the dismay of his bosses and his alliterative assistant Pippi, Mr. Popper finds he cares more about his family, feathered and human, than his job.
The film starts promising, with Carrey an amusing and witty Mr. Popper at first, but quickly devolves into tired plot points and penguin poop jokes. As the story becomes more and more preposterous, it also loses any wit it had.
Not that it matters. The penguins are cute and kids love poop jokes, judging from the howls of laughter that rose at the screening I attended. Rated PG, the movie is clean except for the aforementioned penguin muck, so parents won’t have that excuse to keep out of the theater.
Since the audience who will love this film is too young to attend by itself, parents will have to bite the bullet and draw straws as to who has to – er, I mean gets to – take the youngsters to see it. I suggest the winning parent, by which I mean the one who stays home, has a nice foot rub or stiff drink waiting for their spouse who dives on this penguin grenade.
For an alternative view of this film, click here for editor Nancy French's more positive view of it.
Rebecca Cusey
Rebecca Cusey is the official movie reviewer for SixSeeds.tv. A member of the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association and the Television Critics Association, she does celebrity interviews, reviews, trend pieces, and event coverage. Her work has appeared in USA Today, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, Comcast.net, World Magazine, National Review Online, Relevant Magazine, Beliefnet.com, and many other outlets.
Comments
by Nathan #
My major complaint with the movie (which I have not seen) is that it shares the title, but nothing else, with a great children's book. I read Mr. Popper's Penguins to my first grade class every year and was excited to hear that it was coming out as a movie. What a disappointment to find that NOTHING of the book is in the movie. My advice: read the book to your kids. You'll both enjoy it a lot more.
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by Nancy French #
However, because I was in Chicago with two little girls and some time to kill before our flight, we ducked into a theater and saw it.
I loved it! I thought it was enjoyable, silly, fun, and even had a sweet message.
Tom Popper is a wealthy real-estate magnate who acquires famous properties in Manhattan. After buying the Flat Iron building, he turns his attention to the Tavern on the Green. The owner tells him that this business has been in her family for generations. “Is family important to you?” she asks Mr. Popper.
“Yes,” he assures her. “Family is the most important thing in my life.”
“Oh, so you are married?”
“Divorced.”
“Do you have kids?”
“Yes, and I really enjoy spending time with them on alternating weekends and on Wednesdays.”
(Quotes are from memory.)
The Tavern on the Green owner is less than impressed, and the film ends (spoiler alert!) with Mr. Popper begging his former wife to drop her new boyfriend and reunite.
Anyway, I just thought it was cute, and the girls loved it. I wouldn't have wanted to see it had I been without kids, but my kids had read the 1938 novel and said it was a definite improvement!