Six penguins and (a clothed) Carla Gugino
The closest movie theater to our house hosts a free kid’s movie every weekend during the fall. This selection a few months ago was Mr. Popper’s Penguins. I only went because my son was a bit stir-crazy and it was free entertainment. Once again, low expectations made the movie enjoyable. I’ve decided it’s best to be prepared for cinematic crap every time I start a film for the rest of my life.
Tom Popper (Jim Carrey) has screwed up his family life, but he’s flourishing professionally. Yes, just like the set-up for Liar, Liar. The difference is six penguins and Carla Gugino.
The penguins are amusing and cute. My son laughed like a drunken hyena several times. One penguin honks too much and too loudly (earning the name Loudy), one runs in to walls a lot (Nimrod), one bites (Bitey), and one farts shamelessly (Stinky). The other two are the affectionate Lovey and the leader of the clan, Captain. The individual traits and personalities create a sweet community of adorable animals that charm the younger viewers mercilessly.
The family-in-ruins plotline captures the interest of adults. Carla Gugino is Popper’s estranged wife, Amanda. Every time I see Gugino in a movie, I’m impressed by her ability to light up the screen. Remember her in Son-in-Law? She made Pauly Shore tolerable. Or how about as the troubled psychiatrist in Sin City where her comfortable nakedness distracted the viewer from her recently amputated hand? She’s come a long way since Troop Beverly Hills. Too bad we can’t say the same for Shelley Long.
Gugino remains fully clothed throughout Mr. Popper’s Penguins, which is a good thing since full-frontal would have been a creepy in this movie. Even with clothes, she steals every scene she’s in. Except for the one she shares with Angela Lansbury. Lansbury’s still a powerhouse, especially in the impeccable threads and jewelry she sports in Penguins
Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a cheesy love and redemption movie with a far-fetched plot. But so what? Though it was somewhat predictable, I found the mixture of children’s humor and adult subject matter to be blended flawlessly. It was truly a pleasant surprise.
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I’m pretty sure I first saw Gugino in a Spy Kids movie, but I’ll admit that I became a little fixated on her after her topless, bestumped Sin City role (my main takeaway from that movie was “damn, Spy Kids Mom… damn.”
I will say that she’s the one actor who managed to be on both sides of the bizarre casting divide in Zack Snyder’s Watchmen movie. Her turn as the young Sally Jupiter was utterly perfect, but her heavily-made up old woman Jupiter was as awful as anything that movie had to offer.
I don’t think I can watch it. Even for Gugino.
I just love that book too much. I was going to a review of it for ftE – like My Father’s Dragon, Mrs. palombi read it to us in the 3rd grade, and I know they just made a movie hardly based on it at all and that it would hurt my soul to see them muck about with it.
Im glad it didn’t make you want to kill yourself, though. the idea of being expected to sit through ANY of the Chipmunk movies, for example… ::shudder::
Dude, the Chipmunks movies…I’ve seen them, but I promise to never bring them here. Not even Jason Lee and David Cross can make me do that.
I love me some Carla Gugino. I just saw her in Sucker Punch recently, which was a relief, because that movie is… not very good. Not very good at all. Except for her!