Might as well stamp a label on the poster for Mr. Popper’s Penguins that states it’s a kid’s film that can actually be appreciated by adults. Yes, adults perhaps with a degree of arrested development but adults nonetheless.

Jim Carrey has comic grace while the penguins, six of them, can’t remember all their names, are his match in tuxedos. Okay I can remember the name Stinky because he’s the object of some rather graphic poop jokes but all these animals look alike, and many times are obviously CGI. Not because they look fake but because real penguins can’t survive in an atmosphere without cold.

By adult loving kid’s film I refer to how MPP throws a bone, or a sardine in this case, to certain cinematic traits like the constant references to Charlie Chaplin. Similar movies aimed at kiddies, like Alvin & Co. and Hop have absolutely no jutting stone for adults to grasp onto.

Carrey is a cold-hearted businessman in a Gotham only populated by rich white people, and the penguins are his black (and white) friends. Once Popper opens the windows and doors of his million-dollar condo and lets the snow waft in his dwelling becomes a kind of zoo. The penguins (and Popper’s kids) help dad become human again and reunite with his estranged wife. Angela Lansbury has a small role as the owner of Tavern on the Green.

- Michael Bergeron