‘Mr. Popper’s’ energetic, moving

The stars of Mr. Popper's Penguins -- the birds, not Jim Carrey and Angela Lansbury -- honk, swim, flap, squawk and waddle.

What they do not do is talk, quip, share their musings or advise their beloved zookeeper on how to win the girl. Oh wait -- wrong movie.

Anyway, the point is, none of them sound like Rob Schneider -- or worse, a decent actor phoning in lines from an excremental script. And after Eddie Murphy's Dr. Doolittle outings, Marmaduke and multiple Garfields, we've all heard plenty of that, haven't we? (Actually, apparently we haven't since there's still Zookeeper to come. Shudder.)

So this demonstration of taste and restraint alone elevates Penguins above the anthropomorphized animal comedy norm. Add energetic but calibrated work from Carrey and it should prove perfectly antidotal for families, especially those still nursing Judy Moody-inflicted migraines.

Is it enough to forgive director Mark Waters for the inevitable poop jokes (birds do that too), the sentimental cliches and the cookie-cutter plotting? Close enough. I was amused, entertained and even -- loathe that I am to admit it -- a little moved. Or maybe the penguins just wore me down as effectively and relentlessly as they do Popper himself.

In any case, it's a marked improvement over the abysmal How The Grinch Stole Christmas that Carrey starred in. More comparable to Penguins is Horton Hears a Who! in which Carrey voiced an elephant.

Like those movies, this one derives its name -- but not much else -- from a book. In this case, it's Richard and Florence Atwater's 1938 children's novel.

Carrey stars as Tom Popper, a New York City real estate developer who hungrily gobbles up, then demolishes, historic properties. A workaholic, he's divorced (from Carla Gugino) and has little time for his children (Maxwell Perry Cotton and Madeline Carroll). The only human he spends much time with at all is his assistant, Pippi, (Ophelia Lovibond) who possesses a perky propensity for alliteration. Somehow Lovibond does this without being grating. Woman's going to be a star.

As we learn from a prologue, Popper was neglected from an early age by his own absent, world-exploring father. And as is always the situation, all misers have father issues. Just as catharsis usually comes when they least expect it.

For Popper, it arrives in the form of a live penguin he inherits from his father following his death in Antarctica.

Eventually five more of the cute critters (a seamless blend of real birds and CGI) follow suit.

Predictably, Popper can't wait to send the penguins packing -- they're a distraction from his efforts to smooth-talk a piece of Central Park from a skeptical matron (Lansbury).

But when his kids bond with them (and him), he also finds himself growing uncharacteristically attached. Soon, he's shoveling snow into his upscale condo, skipping work, ducking a snoopy neighbour and fending off a zookeeper (Clark Gregg) who wants the animals for his own purposes. No, it doesn't include making a vest out of them.

Now 49, Carrey has been at a career crossroads of late. Nearly two decades ago, he was chatting up four-legged co-stars in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Now he's a superstar grappling with his second act. So far, the results have been uneven -- the lightweight Yes Man, the risky and ignored I Love You Phillip Morris.

Mr. Popper's Penguins finds Carrey in an agreeable groove, gliding smoothly.

It's a position any penguin would approve of.