MOVIE REVIEW ... MR. POPPER’S PENGUINS

 

When an actor appears in a ‘cute animal’ flick, you know they’re in trouble.  So it is for Jim Carrey. Once the golden boy of comedy with some decent films to his name, he now finds himself in the slums of Hollywood dreck.  Promoted as a ‘film full of charm and fun for the family’, it has neither with his ham-fisted theatrics painful to watch.  Tiny tackers may enjoy it, but more movies like this and his career will become just as frosty as the climate from which the penguins derive.

Divorced realtor Tom Popper (Jim Carrey) is a greedy opportunist setting his sights on the next payday.  His aimless life is altered forever when a box from his deceased father arrives containing some penguins.  Initially wanting to be rid of them, when his children became enchanted with the unexpected acquisitions, he lets the icy visitors stay.  When wicked animal catcher Nat Jones (Clark Gregg) hears of this, he tries to capture them.  Doing anything he can to stop him, Popper’s penguin plight forces him to change his ways and re-connect with his fractured family.

Based on the enchanting 1938 children’s book by Richard and Florence Atwater, this cinematic incarnation is an absolute stinker.  Recent children’s movies have proven they can work without bodily function jokes to bring grace to stories. Mr Popper’s Penguins certainly doesn’t.  It’s odd why the film-makers didn’t do this as a period piece as the original tome was appealing enough without being updated.  Sadly one hadn’t reckoned on Hollywood knowing best and replacing wonder and awe with crudity and banality.

Even a haggard looking Jim Carrey can’t save this and utilising his tired bag of tricks in this enterprise is a waste of his talents.  Maybe Director Mark Waters should be blamed in this regard as his lifeless rendering of the abysmal tale makes it predictable in the extreme.  It’s sad such a potentially good story is once again wasted in this way with the book’s intent washed away by a studio putting profit over integrity.

Mr Popper’s Penguins is a terrible movie only suitable for punishing naughty children.  Woefully acted, dull and poorly scripted, Jim Carrey’s latest does him no favours and proves even former box office champions can find themselves out in the cold.

Movie Review Rating 0 / 10

Movie Review by Patrick Moore

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