MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS / FLIPPED

“MR. POPPER’S PENGUIN’S” (Jim Carrey)

This film is too adorable to make fun of. It’s a flat out kiddie flick, there isn’t a hint of adult content, but if you like penguins - real, computerized or animated - you’ll enjoy watching Mr. Popper turn from ‘Penguin Scrooge’ into penguin lover.
Jim Carrey plays the title character and fortunately doesn’t resort to his earlier outlandish characterizations (I was afraid he’d revive Ace Ventura and was relieved when he did not)
As a boy, Tom Popper’s father was always away on adventure trips – the boy mainly knew his father thru late night conversations on a ham radio.
As an adult, Tom becomes a shrewd businessman whose specialty is getting people to sell property they don’t really want to part with. The owners of the corporation he works for keep dangling a partnership in front of him, saying, “We’ll put your name on the building when you land the _____ account.”
In this case, it’s a quaint little restaurant/Inn that his company needs to tear down & replace with a profitable venture.
When word comes that Popper’s father has died in Antarctica, it only causes him a brief moment of remorse before he has to get back to work.
A crate arrives from his late father, a seemingly stuffed penguin. When the frozen bird thaws out, he comes to life. It’s a kid’s movie, remember?
A phone call to the Russian accented gentleman that sent the crate results in 5 more penguins showing up in Mr. Popper’s high rise New York apartment and silly penguin antics ensue.
When his ex-wife Amanda (Carla Gugino) drops off their 2 kids for his weekend visit, the kids immediately fall in love with the 6 flightless birds and Popper is forced to give the penguins names. The first one he received is dubbed Captain, then the one who bites is Bitey, the one who squawks is Loudy, the one that nuzzles his leg is Lovey, the one who farts is Stinky and the one that falls over is Nimrod. Popper keeps the birds simply because his children now enjoy spending time with him and along the way Popper’s penguins become his ‘other’ children.
Even the bad guy doesn’t appear to be bad; a zookeeper that wants ‘what is best for the penguins’ and that is to be in a proper environment – his zoo.
Mr. Popper’s penguins isn’t a classic, but it has all the elements of a great film, it is amusing, heartwarming and touching, with a neat ending that, if you’re a sap, will leave a lump in your throat. And yes, I’m a sap for penguin movies and this is one kid’s film that I will recommend to everyone.

While I'm on the subject of enjoyably sweet films, I just watched a Rob Reiner movie called "Flipped"; a coming of age story involving a boy & a girl that grow up living across the street from one another. Each sequence is shown first from the boy's point of view and then from the girl's. It's just the story of two kid's who 'flip' as they grow up - In the beginning she's infatuated with him; then, as her interest in him wanes, he starts to have feelings toward her. The differences in their two families and a sycamore tree make "Flipped" a very special 'little' film.