MR. POPPER’S PENGUINS

You should see this if you want a genuinely funny comedy with a strong lesson about becoming a good father. Jim Carrey gives one of his best performances in a while, the plot is clever, and the humor is often laugh-out-loud hilarious. The film also includes prayer and humble thanks.

The cost is content that may trouble some families. There are four obscenities, nine light exclamatory profanities, bathroom humor involving penguin feces, and some dialogue that may be above younger children’s heads. The story is more about a man becoming a family man than it is a simple family movie.

Older children and adults can find plenty to enjoy, while parents of younger children should weigh the language and scatological jokes carefully. The practical answer: WORTH THE TRIP — OLDER CHILDREN AND ADULTS.

Tommy Popper grows up longing for his explorer father’s attention. As an adult, he becomes a talented but egotistical real estate salesman in New York City, separated from his wife and children.

Then Popper inherits six live penguins. The unexpected animals disrupt his carefully managed life, complicate his work, and give him an opportunity to learn how to love his family.

Four stars means this is an excellent piece of entertainment, and the source review is especially enthusiastic about its comedy. The film is laugh-out-loud hilarious, built around a clever plot and an excellent comic performance from Jim Carrey. Angela Lansbury is delightful, too.

The movie’s central idea gives the comedy a meaningful foundation: an egocentric man learns how to stop being selfish and become a good father. Some dialogue may be above children’s heads, and the bathroom humor is not always easy to overlook. Still, the film is one of the year’s best movies.

The film’s strongest moral idea is that a selfish man can learn to grow up and become the father and family man he should have been. It exalts love for family, humility, and the responsibility of becoming less self-serving. The penguins function as the means by which Popper is changed.

The worldview is also extremely patriotic, anti-government, and libertarian in its elements. The film includes many exclamations to God and one prayer, while also making one politically correct comment about “gender.” Its emphasis on becoming a good father aligns with a biblical concern for family responsibility, though the film’s political elements do not provide a complete biblical framework.

Scripture calls fathers to loving responsibility: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

Jim Carrey’s best work in a while anchors a clever, hilarious story about learning to become a good father. The bathroom humor and light foul language call for parental discernment, but older children and adults can find a lot to enjoy. Our answer is WORTH THE TRIP — OLDER CHILDREN AND ADULTS.