Review of Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011) by Oxana — 23 Aug 2014

Mr. Popper (Jim Carrey) is a successful businessman. With the help of his assistant Pippi (Ophelia Lovibond), who has a very strange p-problem, they can make anyone sell them anything, which usually means property.

In the process of being successful, and aiming to make one more deal that will give him a partnership in his company, Popper has lost touch of his family, although he does try being a good father to his children, and still harbors feelings for his ex-wife.

With father-related problems of his own, Mr. Popper suddenly receives the word that his estranged father has died. However, Popper gets one final gift from his father: half dozen live penguins.

So, how much comedy can you create from that? A lot. The penguins are cute, naturally, and get into all sorts of trouble. Popper is an unwilling owner, who is in a hurry to get rid of them from the start, but since the six birds eventually bring him closer to his family, he sees an opportunity not to be wasted.

The movie had many outrageously funny scenes which brought tears to my eyes. It even seemed fairly realistic, although the transformation of Popper's home back and forth between a luxury apartment and a winter wonderland made me wonder how no one noticed it - or a major water accident.

Near the end of the film, they either ran out of ideas, or the movie just lost its tempo. There were touching moments, but the end seemed very 'blah'; unexciting and inconclusive, and almost boring. It's always a shame to see a good movie end in that fashion. Even Popper's mission to purchase an old restaurant wasn't an interesting part of the story, and it kind of remained on the background the whole time.

Jim Carrey is definitely getting older, but he still has the spark. I liked him in this movie, and he didn't go overboard with his comic act - not until the very end, anyway. While his family troubles weren't all that interesting, it was part of the movie, and fit in quite nicely most of the time.

If you like penguins and Jim Carrey, and an hour's worth of good comedy before it gets a bit lame, I urge you to see this! Despite the disappointing ending, it was very, very funny.