Combining live-action and CGI animation, director Frank Coraci's Zookeeper opens with a prologue in which hapless title character Griffin Keyes's (Kevin James) marriage proposal is rejected by shallow supermodel Stephanie (Leslie Bibb). Skip ahead five years: after Griffin spies Stephanie at his brother's engagement party, the animals under Griffin's care decide to band together to help him win her back, even if that means breaking “the code,” which forbids them from speaking with people. Acknowledging that “every time we talk to humans, it turns out badly,” the critters include Sylvester Stallone as a lion, Cher as a lioness, Adam Sandler as an indecipherable monkey, and Nick Nolte as a restaurant-obsessed gorilla. Also on hand are Don Rickles, Maya Rudolph, and Judd Apatow as Griffin's best buddy, an elephant. Unfortunately, the anthropomorphized creatures don't have much to say that's interesting in this hackneyed, cliché-riddled script patched together by five different writers. And viewers can't help but notice that kindly coworker Kate (Rosario Dawson) is obviously a better match for Griffin. A lame romcom that relies primarily on overextended slapstick scenes, this is not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include visual effects segments (9 min.), a segment on the animatronic creature “Bernie the Gorilla” (7 min.), “The Furry Co-Stars” featurette on the animals (7 min.), a “Laughing is Contagious” gag reel (6 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are deleted scenes (12 min.), a cast featurette (9 min.), a stunts featurette (6 min.), a “Be the Bear” scene-specific segment (2 min.), a playable PlayStation 3 demo for the upcoming video game Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, and the BD-Live feature. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)
Zookeeper
Sony, 102 min., PG, DVD: $30.99, Blu-ray: $35.99, Oct. 11 Volume 26, Issue 5
Zookeeper
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