Day 108: "Yeah, Pippi, I'm not coming into work today. I've got a pest problem."

Take a large helping of Liar, Liar, add 6 penguins, take out any and all offensive language and finally, make it a whole lot less funny, and you've got Mr. Popper's Penguins.  A family film through and through, Mr. Popper's Penguins not as bad as I was expecting it to be, but I did leave the theater wanting more from the movie; specifically laughs.  The story itself revolves around a corporate real estate developer who is too busy for his estranged family.  His explorer father passes away and leaves him one final souvenir, 6 penguins.  For the rest of the movie, Popper spends his time bonding with his new family and reconciling with his original one.  The few laughs are courtesy of the, admittedly well done, CGI penguins, but there really should have been more. 

Jim Carrey stars in this, and as I said before, the laughs rarely come from him, disappointingly.  I was hoping for many more Carrey-esque, slapstick moments, but they never came.  This seemed to be a perfect vehicle for his particular style of humor, but never really got up to speed.  Carla Gugino is his estranged wife, and Angela Lansbury plays Mrs. Van Gundy, the owner of a New York landmark that Popper is trying to buy.  Lansbury, in particular, plays her role well, trying throughout to make Popper realize what is really important in life.

Disappointing, but a solid family film, Mr. Popper's Penguins is for everyone.  Very vanilla in its presentation and story, but completely inoffensive, take the family and get out of the heat.  I've seen better, but I've also seen a whole lot worse.  6/10.

See you tomorrow, and GO WATCH A MOVIE!!