Movie Review: Zookeeper

Zookeeper (2011) 

Directed by Frank Coraci

Written by Nick Bakay, Rock Reuben, Kevin James, Jay Sherick, David Ronn

Starring Kevin James, Sylvester Stallone, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb, Nick Nolte, Cher

Release Date July 8th, 2011

Published July 7th, 2011

Kevin James is a big, lovable teddy bear of a guy who is hard not to root for. That appeal comes in handy in a movie like Zookeeper which indicates from its premise that critics should really hate it. The premise has James talking with zoo animals who give him advice about his love life. So... yeah, that's actually the premise. 

To be fair to my profession, the most recent examples of humans talking with animals include such dreadful films as Dr. Doolittle 1 & 2 with Eddie Murphy, a pair of Alvin & the Chipmunk debacles and Hop. History would seem to dictate that Zookeeper should be brutal. That it is far from brutal, indeed it's modestly enjoyable is quite something.

Hilarious Heartbreak

Griffin (James) is in love with Stephanie (Leslie Bibb) but unfortunately she can't love a modest zookeeper. Too bad she tells him this after he pops the question in an elaborate romantic gesture, a terrifically funny scene exceptionally well played by Kevin James who earns our sympathy right off the bat.

Cut to five years later and Griffin is thinking of leaving the zoo to work at his brother Dave's (Nat Faxon) exotic car shop. When the zoo animals get wind of their favorite zookeeper thinking of leaving the finally reveal that they can talk. The reveal on the animals talking is another great scene from James who reacts as someone likely should react when animals begin speaking to them only funnier.

Animals Can Talk

In order to convince Griffin to stay the zoo animals come up with a plan to teach him how to win Stephanie back. Again, you will be surprised how often you laugh during these scenes as James goes all out throwing himself into all sorts of physical gags as he works to make us laugh.

The animal voice cast includes Sylvester Stallone and Cher as Lions, Adam Sandler, doing one of his irritating voices as a monkey, Maya Rudolf as a giraffe and most surprisingly, Nick Nolte as TGIFriday's loving gorilla. Nolte is a wonderfully strange choice who infuses even the goofiest scene with unnecessary vocal gravitas.

If You Liked Paul Blart...

Zookeeper has no right to be as funny as it is but then again neither did Kevin James's last lead comic performance in Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Both films look dreadful on the surface but watching them, I was caught off guard by the number of times Kevin James made me laugh.

No other actor in Hollywood works harder to make an audience laugh. Most of the time when an actor desperately tries to make you laugh they fail, it's all too obvious and desperate. James however, brings sweetness to his desperation that makes him sympathetic.

Of course, Zookeeper is not going to win any Oscars and likely won't remember any of it in a couple days but while watching it I laughed a great deal more than I expected to. Kevin James is a funny, sweet and hard working guy that you just can't help but root for even as you wish he weren't in a talking animal movie.

Movie Review: Confessions of a Shopaholic

Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) 

Directed by P.J Hogan

Written by Tim Firth, Tracey Jackson

Starring Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy Joan Cusack, John Goodman, John Lithgow, Leslie Bibb

Release Date February 13th, 2009 

Published February 15th, 2009

What a strange bit of timing. When Confessions of a Shopaholic went into production the economy was sluggish but not so bad off. Now, the story of a credit card crazed shopaholic could not be anymore at odds with the times. Nevertheless, this movie is not a social commentary or documentary, it's a dopey, good natured rom-com and judged by that standard, it's not bad.

Isla Fisher, best remembered as Vince Vaughn's sexually rapacious gal pal in Wedding Crashers, takes on her first starring role as Rebecca Bloomwood a serious clothes horse. Rebecca has a problem, there isn't a high end clothing store that she can walk past.

Over a short period of time she has built up more than 16 grand in credit card debt. She is being stalked by bill collector's and to top it all off she has just lost her job as a writer at a gardening magazine. On the bright side, she does get an interview at her favorite high end fashion mag.

However, things don't go quite as planned and instead of working at the fashion mag, Rebecca winds up at a financial magazine. Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy) happens upon Rebecca by accident and ends up hiring her... well... because the plot requires him to.

Using fashion to describe finance, Rebecca quickly becomes a sensation but when people find out about her credit card problems more than her new job will be on the line.

Yes, I cringed a little when I wrote that last line. A 4 year old could see that little complication coming. All romantic comedies consist of two people and the series of roadblocks used to keep them apart until the appointed moment they are supposed to be together for a happily ever after.

Confessions of A Shopaholic is anything but original. The film adheres to all rom-com cliches and requirements without question. The only thing that director P.J Hogan could do to make the movie interesting was get the casting right and he did it.

Isla Fisher is cute as can be and Hugh Dancy matches her in charm and good humor. As a couple they sparkle together and we want to see them in their happily ever after even as we are forced to suffer the false roadblocks of the typical rom-com.

This isn't a great movie but when Fisher and Dancy are together, it's worth suffering a few dull cliches to watch them spark together. If you love romantic comedies and don't care about predictability and cliche, you will smile your way through this superfluous, charming and forgettable movie.

Movie Review Talladega Nights The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Talladega Nights The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) 

Directed by Adam McKay 

Written by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay 

Starring Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Amy Adams, Gary Cole, Leslie Bibb

Release Date August 4th, 2006 

Published August 3rd, 2006 

Will Ferrell struggled through 2005 with a pair of potential blockbusters that went belly up. Kicking And Screaming and Bewitched were Ferrell's attempt to solidify his star status outside the auspices of his frat pack pals Vince Vaughn and the Wilson brothers and they failed. With his first effort of 2006 Ferrell returns to safer territory. Under the guidance of his Anchorman director Adam McKay, Ferrell gets back in the comedic driver seat in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

Using their Anchorman formula, McKay and Ferrell simply adapt Anchorman to the Nascar track. Take an arrogant simpleton seemingly on top of the world. Pull the rug out from under him and then watch as he crawls back to the top as improvised comic madness rains all around him. Some may fault the formulaic approach but you can't deny that this formula works.

Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) is the number one driver in all of Nascar. His risky style has him finishing first or crashing the car and not finishing at all. With the help of his teammate Cal Jr (John C. Reilly), Ricky Bobby's place in the winner circle every week is assured. That is, until the arrival of the French formula one champion Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen) who arrives gunning for Ricky Bobby.

In their first showdown, Girard gets the best of Ricky when Ricky is involved in a major crash. The aftermath of the crash has Ricky thinking he is paralyzed and leads to his being unable to drive fast anymore. Can Ricky get over his fears, get back in the car and win at Talladega again or will he be delivering pizzas on a huffy bike the rest of his life.

That is what passes as a plot for a plot in Talladega Nights though plotting is not something director Adam McKay and star Will Ferrell are all that interested in. Working from a script left open for much improv, the point of Talladega Nights is crafting gag after gag after gag. Some of the gags don't work, many more do work and produce big, big laughs. In particular watch out for Will Ferrell improvising a unique dinner blessing and Ferrell's inspired reaction to his harrowing 'fiery' crash.

The talented cast of Talladega Nights, lead by Ferrell, Reilly and Cohen and backed up more than ably by Michael Clarke Duncan, Jane Lynch and Gary Cole, turns out some terrifically inspired moments of sheer goofiness and energetic weirdness. Much of the humor is based on what must have been hours of improvisation.

If there is one problem with the cast it's with the film's use of Oscar nominee Amy Adams. Hired to play Ferrell's secondary love interest, Adams is introduced early on and then abandoned. She returns but not until the third act and even then is limited to one terrifically eccentric monologue. There is no question from this monologue that Adams can hang with this terrific troop of improv actors but it seems that much of her role is on the cutting room floor.

Talladega Nights is deeply flawed as a typical three act film. The story arc is weak and the storytelling is disjointed. But, none of that really matters once you accept that all of this goofiness isn't really a movie as much as it is a series of gags. Some of these gags are funny, some are very funny and some fall flatter than a blown tire.

Sacha Baron Cohen has star potential rolling off his every mangled syllable. His upcoming comedy Borat, based on a character from his HBO show The Ali G Show, is generating big buzz. Talladega Nights is an excellent introduction of his talent for weird accents and highly eccentric characters. Watching Cohen and Ferrell riff back and forth, Cohen with his astonishingly incomprehensible French accent and Ferrell with his simpleton's twang, in several confrontational scenes is pure comic gold that, no doubt, left plenty of material for a DVD worth of improv riffs, some of which you can see over the films credits.

In a cast filled with scene stealers Gary Cole nearly walks away with the entire picture as Ricky's no good, low down, drug dealing, car racing daddy Reese Bobby. Known more for his buttoned down simps, Bill Lumberg in Office Space or the Vice President on The West Wing, Cole shows a surprising talent for being a dirtbag. With a beer in his hand, a twang in his voice, and clothes that almost stink through the screen, Cole is pitch perfect as a redneck deadbeat.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby is very funny as a series of Nascar based improv skits. As a movie it's a disjointed, often ridiculous exercise in plot mechanics and minor melodrama. I found the film left a lot to be desired in terms of great filmmaking but that is a minor concern when a movie makes me laugh as much as I laughed during Talladega Nights.