After seeing this movie, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, as I was getting ready for this review I checked a couple of review and found them scathing and mean spirited. I was surprised that many people just can’t stand Jim Carrey. I must confess that he’s not always my cup of tea but I couldn’t believe how nasty some of the reviews were.
Tom Popper (Jim Carrey) is a divorced realtor who while growing up regularly communicated with his father via short wave radio. On his deathbed his father decides to send Tom a penguin and then through a series of miscommunications Tom ends up with six in his posh New York apartment. Tom finds that his estranged wife and children like the penguins and he spends his time hiding them from snoopy tenants, a money grubbing doorman, and a zookeeper who wants to claim the penguins and advance his zoo “fortunes.”
The premise is scarcely profound but the bits with the penguins, their bathroom habits, and their growing loyalty to Tom keeps the viewer smiling. One review said the movie was “predictable.” That may well be but that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad movie. Tom manages to “rescue” the penguins and reclaim a building and restaurant that his father used when Tom was a child. It’s fun to see Angela Lansbury as the owner who likes and remembers Tom, despite Tom’s many faults.
When one of three eggs laid by the penguins does not hatch, it provides the belated “aha” moment for Tom. It is sweet to see in the closing scene, the penguins back in their natural habitat rather than confined to the zoo.
Preachy? Not really. Sweet? Yes, at times. Funny? It has its moments. Worth seeing? I think so. You could do so much worse.
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