Mr. Popper's Penguins

Thomas Popper (Jim Carrey) is a hotshot Manhattan broker who's far more interested in commercial real estate than in his ex-wife Amanda (Carla Gugino), teenage daughter Janie (Madeline Carroll), and young son Billy (Maxwell Perry Cotton). Popper's up for a partnership if he can acquire the prestigious Tavern on the Green restaurant in Central Park from its longtime owner, Mrs. Van Gundy (Angela Lansbury). Meanwhile, Popper receives a posthumous present from his poppa, a peripatetic explorer who always sent gifts rather than spending time with his son. Inside an insulated wooden crate Popper discovers a live Gentoo penguin, the first of several waddlers to arrive who wreak disorderly poop-squirting havoc in the posh duplex that Popper gradually transforms into a wintry wonderland. Predictably, as Popper's relationship with the penguins progresses, he begins to feel parental guilt and winds up making reconciliation with his family a priority. Loosely based on the beloved 1938 children's book by Richard and Florence Atwater, Mr. Popper's Penguins is directed by Mark Walters, who favors Popper's perky assistant, Pippi (Ophelia Lovibond), a woman prone to peppering every sentence with alliterative P-words. Of course, there's plenty of fun and frolic as the birds create chaos sliding down the spiral slope at a Guggenheim Museum charity gala, but ultimately this is a flimsy, formulaic, forgettable family film. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Mike Waters, editor Bruce Green, and visual effects supervisor Richard Hollander, deleted scenes (15 min.), the character segments “Ready for Their Closeup” (9 min.) and “Ladies & Gentoomen” (6 min.), the “Nimrod & Stinky's Antarctic Adventure” animated short (6 min.), a gag reel (2 min.), an original story sampler with pages from the book by Richard and Florence Atwater, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are segments on “Stuffy Penguin Theater” (5 min.), the “Legacy of Mr. Poppers Penguins” (4 min.), a “Penguin Pandemonium” scene breakdown with commentary (3 min.), and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing adaptation of a beloved children's book.] (S. Granger)