The Nation's Health

Mr Popper's Penguins Takes Flight

Mr Popper's Penguins

Mr Popper's Penguin

The classic 1938 children's book Mr Popper's Penguins has been given the big-screen treatment in this kids comedy of the same name. Jim Carrey plays Mr Popper; a career-driven developer type who's in touch with his bosses and out-of-touch with his children and ex-wife (Carla Gugino). When his arctic adventurer father passes away, Mr Popper inherits six penguins. Initially reluctant to have the “pests'' in his luxurious apartment, Mr Popper decides to keep them after realising they make him considerably cooler with his kids. When he transforms his home into a winter wonderland, Mr Popper's personal life starts to take flight with the help of the penguins, while his professional side starts to unravel.

Essentially this is Liar Liar meets Happy Feet. Screenwriting team Sean Anders and John Morris have brought the clever and sometimes naughty dialogue of their past efforts Hot Tub Time Machine and She's Out Of My League seamlessly into the children's movie market. They've also updated Richard and Florence Atwater's family sentiment into modern upper-class American society nicely, considering it was originally about a poor painter.

But the high-flipper must go to Carrey, who carries Mr Popper's Penguins. He has reigned in the crazy ever-so-slightly, while funneling the best elements of his comedic repertoire into the character. With Carrey, it's not just the one-liners. It's how he delivers them so quickly and fluidly that you've got to be paying attention to catch any of the adult orientated jokes.

In saying that, it wouldn't be a kids animal movie if not for the cliches. There's the penguin that farts and poops; Stinky. The penguin that continually falls over and walks into objects; Nimrod. And so on and so forth. There's also the evil zoo-keeper villain and the wizened old woman who teaches the characters life lessons (Angela Lansbury). These fixtures of the genre are annoying, but nothing more thanks to Carrey and the tight direction of Mark Waters (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Mean Girls). With the school holiday movie choices limited to two animated sequels, a nonsensical CGI blockbuster and this; Mr Popper's Penguins is quality G-rated entertainment and the best bet for the family.