Talking animals. That’s the reason to see “Zookeeper,” isn’t it? Surprisingly, it’s the animals that are anything but charming. With big name actors voicing the animals, it seems that director Frank Coraci and writers Jay Scherick and David Ronn go out of their way to give them all something special to do. The result is a lot of animal scenes that are shrill and noisy and not funny. Not even cute. There’s Adam Sandler as a monkey, Sylvester Stallone and Cher as lions, Maya Rudolph as a giraffe, Jon Favreau as a bear, and Nick Nolte as a depressed gorilla. Kevin James has the title role as a good-hearted zookeeper who has never gotten over being dumped by his superficial, status-conscious girlfriend (Leslie Bibb). Now five years later, with an opportunity to win her back, the animals offer their mating advice. Rosario Dawson, as the zoo’s veterinarian, also lends a hand by posing as his date to make his ex jealous. Within the comedy genre, James is effective at portraying nice guys and with his teddy-bear charm, it’s hard not to like him. Too bad the same can’t be said for the movie. 7/29/11
1 comment:
A silly comedic romp with talking zoo animals and slapstick, "fall down" humor. This kind of film is Kevin James' only hope in movies with his limited acting ability and marginal good looks.
This is pretty good fare for small children (grandchildren). Pretty much junk for the rest of us.
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