Light comedy at its best!

The movie started off on a very Light note as if there wasn't much to expect from until all the penguins arrived. The environment changed. Things around turned. It was the biggest tent pole a light movie could have had. Nimrod was my favorite. I am out of words to describe his curious and merry attitude. Jim wasn't at his best, wasn't going through the best of his times either despite having all-time best comedies and performances to his name. Still, he managed to deliver a spectacular performance. Two characters weren't agreat, his wife and the hotel owner.

I enjoyed, lqughed through out. It was quite a funny, adventurous journey, with the latter in bits and pieces.

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

I trust the producers were not expecting Mr. Popper's Penguins to be a box office smash, because if they were, they neglected to mix the full recipe ingredients for a block buster movie. Yes, they included one of the major star comedians, Jim Carrey. Yes, they gave us a good background story of a young boy named Tommy Popper who listened endlessly and intently to his CB (citizen band) radio patiently waiting for the rare occasion his world traveler father would reach out to him from afar on the CB radio and tell young Tommy Popper about his current adventure he was on from the four corners of the world. But Tommy grew up as a lonely boy and then 30 years later we see Tommy (now an adult Jim Carrey) as a successful real estate mogul, who is separated from his wife and two kids because he just does not have time for any of his own family. Like father, like son.

Before Tommy's father passes away he sends adult Tommy two crates from the Antartica containing six adorable Penguins. There is also a letter included in one of the the crates which Tommy inadvertently does not see fall under the hall table until quite some time later. Again the producers did a good job with making the penguins look real in all their animated scenes. The penguins bathroom breaks were exceptionally cute and appropriate for all age audiences including young children. I saw the movie at home, but I would imagine any child between the age of 3-13 would be howling of laughter with the antics of the six penguins, who were individually named in a manner that resembles their predominant and individual behavior, similar to the Disney's Seven Dwarfs.

Jim Carrey's estranged wife Amanda (played by Carla Gugino) has moved on with her life and she has a new man she is interested in. Their two kids, a girl and a boy have not spent a lot of time with their father who is always too busy with his real estate deals. I anticipated I may have heard Cat Stevens 1971 classic song "Father and Son" contained somewhere in the film, but it was missing, as was a story line that the audience could commit to believing in.

Angela Lansbury plays Mrs. Van Gundy the sole owner of the Tavern on the Green restaurant that adult Tommy Poppers bosses assign him to acquire for their new development plans. We find out later that little Tommy used to eat at the restaurant with his father on the rare occasion he came to town to visit with his son. Introducing Angela Lansbury was an attempt to make it more like the 1971 Disney classic she previously starred in Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

It is worth a watch for Jim Carrey's interaction with the adorable penguins. The animators did a fantastic job of making the penguins irresistibly entertaining. But let's not fool ourselves. Mr. Poppers Penguins is a good movie that is sure to entertain children between the ages of 3-13 but when I mentioned the film was missing some key ingredients I am referring to that Disney magic. Mr. Poppers Penguins is simply lacking that warm story line and the charm of any of the Disney classics even with Ms. Lansbury in a supporting role, and the advanced CGI animatronics available today.