Mr. Popper’s Penguins - (June 17th, 2011): PG
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Opening Weekend Box-Office: #3 with $18,445,355
Domestic Box-Office Gross to-date: $29,147,679
Gross Revenue: $29,985,897
Production Budget: $55 million
Director: Mark S. Waters
By adapting a well-known children’s book to the silver screen, 20th Century Fox didn’t have that big of a challenge in selling Mr. Popper’s Penguins to audiences, especially when a well-known actor like Jim Carrey was attached to the project. Other famous names initially in the running to play the titular Mr. Popper included Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black, but the role ultimately went to the man who rose to fame as an eccentric pet detective responsible for a generation’s worth of catch phrases…“alriiighty then!” Now, I know there are those who would question whether Carrey could be truly funny in a family comedy, but the easy answer to that uncertainty would be 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which, to-date, is still hysterical and remains one of my favorite holiday films. Early trailers showcased Carrey embracing his silly roots with some computer-generated penguins, so parents undoubtedly had an outlet to placate and entertain young children. Having never read the original book and therefore largely unfamiliar with the source material, I had almost no expectations going into Mr. Popper’s Penguins, but at the very least I was looking forward to some lighthearted comedy.
The title of this family comedy really says it all…Mr. Popper’s Penguins tells the story of divorced New York realtor Tom Popper (Jim Carrey), who has his life turned upside down when he unexpectedly receives a group of live penguins from his estranged and recently-deceased father. The mischievous penguins immediately imprint onto Popper, who is concurrently trying to convince the elderly owner of Tavern on the Green, Ms. Van Gundy (Angela Lansbury), to sell her establishment, and also desperately trying to repair his tenuous relationship with his own children. Naturally, Popper’s children adore the penguins, and he himself grows to care about the birds and learn more about loyalty and the importance of spending time with his family, a lesson that helps him repair and rekindle his relationship with his ex-wife (Carla Gugino). Unfortunately, the newfound harmony is disturbed when local zoo-keeper Nat Jones (Clark Gregg) demands that Popper surrender the penguins, as the arctic birds would be unable to thrive while living in a New York apartment. Trying to balance this newfound element of his life, which begins to threaten his job, Popper must both decide what is important in his life and learn to ultimately embrace the lesson that these precocious penguins are presently providing.
In its simplest form, Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a family film that showcases Jim Carrey messing around with havoc-wreaking aquatic birds, and the end-result is just cute enough to delight some audiences. Despite the fact that the funniest scenes came as no surprise because they were showcased so strongly in the trailers, there is still something inherently enjoyable about watching Carrey be silly. The penguins themselves are far from the funniest fauna in film, but they still generate some laughs and will have young children thoroughly delighted. Though this is by no means the first time that Carrey has played the father role, this is by far the most he has ever embraced the family man character, and the end result is thoroughly heartwarming, especially when you add-in his interaction with Carla Gugino, as the two make a very believable couple. However, even though there are positive features to this family comedy, they were largely unable to blend together and overcome the bland and predictable elements that plague the film.
It took me a considerable amount of time to write this much of the review, and that is largely because there is just nothing that special about Mr. Popper’s Penguins. Carrey may have been a good family man, but he was still largely subdued in this role, barely breaking into the wild zaniness that has been a defining element of his career. When you consider the other jokes present in the film, a majority of them fall flat, simply trying to play too hard to a younger audience. For instance, Popper has an assistant who speaks in incessant alliteration, using an abundance of the letter “P” in her word choice…if you thought it was annoying when I did it at the end of my plot synopsis, try sitting through an entire movie listening to the joke that started out amusing and then was beaten to death. Forgetting the thoroughly predictable storyline with the eye-rolling ending, Angela Lansbury’s presence in the film was both an unnecessary plot device and thoroughly under-appreciated, as no one in the undoubtedly younger audience could even recognize the Hollywood legend. In the end, Mr. Popper’s Penguins can only be described as mediocre; squandering whatever potential it had in the first place.
Opening up against a superhero film, anyone could have seen that Mr. Popper’s Penguins wasn’t going to take top title at the box office, but failing to take down Super 8 in its second weekend was a little surprising. Even when weighed against a modest budget of $55 million, an opening weekend of under $20 million for a family film still defies expectations, but maybe audiences just weren’t eager to jump for a comedy that looked better suited for a holiday rather than a summer release. Sadly, with a near-nonexistent overseas haul, Mr. Popper’s Penguins has likely seen its best numbers, since anyone going to the theater this weekend looking for a family film will naturally see Cars 2. Even if you are a fan of Jim Carrey, I still can’t tell you to rush to the theater in good conscience. Again, this family comedy isn’t bad…it’s just not that enjoyable or memorable.
Overall Recommendation: Low
