Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, young Tommy Popper looks forward to the moments when, on his tiptoes to reach a ham radio in his bedroom, he can talk to his world-traveling father. Years later, Tommy is now Mr. Popper, a highly successful real estate developer in Manhattan. Amicably divorced from Amanda, with two children he sees on alternate weekends, Mr. Popper lives the life of luxury in his ultra-modern Park Avenue apartment and is well on his way to becoming partner at his prestigious firm. That is, until the morning a final gift from Popper's late father, a souvenir from Antarctica, arrives in a crate at Popper's front door. Inside the wooden box, nestled amongst ice packs, is a two-foot tall penguin with bright orange feet. Not a toy penguin, or a stuffed bird from the taxidermist, as Popper at first assumes, but a real, live penguin, who scampers across Popper's floor and emits loud honks. Eager to be rid of this wild creature, Popper contacts every city and state agency imaginable, but no one is willing to take a pet penguin. His call to Antarctica to try to ship the bird back instead results in the arrival of another five penguins at Popper's door. As he gets acquainted with – and increasingly attached to – his winged roommates, Popper's life quickly unravels: his swanky New York apartment is turned into a snowy winter wonderland, the deal he's long been working on is derailed, and he almost lands in jail. But thanks to his new charges, Popper comes to understand the importance of family  human and otherwise. - skip ad - Genres: Comedy, Animation and Adaptation Running Time: 1 hr. 35 min. Release Date: June 17th, 2011 (wide) MPAA Rating: PG for mild rude humor and some language. Distributor: 20th Century Fox Distribution Cast And Credits Starring: Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Madeline Carroll, Angela Lansbury Directed by: Mark Waters Produced by: Joel Gotler, Derek Dauchy, Jessica Tuchinsky

It would seem that “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” a summer family stopgap between the “Kung Fu Panda” and “Cars” sequels, missed the movie-penguin craze by about five years, though perhaps it will prompt a penguin revival. In any case, the film, directed with bounce and snap by Mark Waters, stands as a comeback of sorts for Jim Carrey, who mugs and prances and does funny voices and manages not to be upstaged by a half-dozen flightless birds. The birds â€" real gentoo penguins with computer-enhanced abilities â€" honk, defecate and waddle around Manhattan while Mr. Carrey’s Popper, at first vexed and then beguiled by the creatures, tries to deal with them, his job, his children and the state of his soul. Jim Carrey and his wards in “Mr. Popper's Penguins,” directed by Mark Waters.



Old-timers â€" those with vivid memories of Mr. Carrey’s “Ace Ventura” movies â€" will notice, with a sigh, that his rubbery limbs have lost a bit of stretch and his highly mobile face has acquired some lines. “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” based on the venerable and charming children’s book by Richard and Florence Atwater, signifies an important stage in Mr. Carrey’s maturation, or at least his transition from nitwit man-child to goofy dad. Just about every male screen comedian must negotiate this passage at some point: Eddie Murphy managed pretty well for a while, with the “Dr. Dolittle” movies. Adam Sandler struggled with “Grown Ups,” though that film’s box office returns suggested that the moviegoing masses did not mind.

And there is not a lot to object to in “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” a mildly amusing specimen of a genre that has produced some of the most unspeakable atrocities of recent cinema. (Do you think I’m exaggerating? Did you see “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel”?) The hectic plot is fairly standard, with a soft therapeutic coating wrapped around situations that might be unbearably painful or embarrassing in real life.

Neglected by his globe-trotting father, Popper grows into a sharkish real-estate wheeler-dealer, flipping New York landmarks and falling out of touch with his young son (Maxwell Perry Cotton) and adolescent daughter (Madeline Carroll). He must, in addition to wrangling the birds â€" a bequest from Dad, multiplied by a customer service error â€" try to win back his ex-wife (Carla Gugino) and woo a reluctant seller (Angela Lansbury) to part with the Tavern on the Green.

The arrival of the penguins precipitates Popper’s transformation from uptight money man into, well, Jim Carrey. Mr. Carrey is the kind of performer whose shtick reliably trumps psychological sense, and the film’s blithe incoherence with respect to its main character is one of its virtues. It turns sentimental now and then, but it knows â€" Mr. Carrey knows â€" that what the audience wants from him is silliness. Among Popper’s possessions is a boxed set of Charlie Chaplin DVDs, and while it may be presumptuous of Mr. Carrey to clown in such company, he is also paying tribute to a great precursor. The penguins, in any case, love the Little Tramp, recognizing a kindred spirit or at least a similar way of walking.

The valuable lessons go by without too much heartstring tugging, and you can enjoy watching the title characters, human and avian, cavorting in Popper’s snow-filled Manhattan duplex. A neighbor (David Krumholtz) objects, and a further complication arise in the form of an officious zoo guy (Clark Gregg), who denies that penguins could love Mr. Popper. But why shouldn’t they? And why shouldn’t we chuckle at the alliterative shenanigans of his assistant, Pippi (Ophelia Lovibond), who packs a peck of plosives into every utterance.

As I said, there is nothing new here, but Mr. Waters, as he showed with the smarter and more daring “Mean Girls” and “Freaky Friday,” knows how to keep things buzzing along. Whether or not this movie sets off a new penguin craze, it will probably sell some penguin merchandise and provide about 90 minutes of tolerable jollity. “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). Some mildly naughty penguin stuff.