If the goal of the lead actor, Kevin James, and director, Frank Coraci, of Zookeeper was to make a better movie than Paul Blart, Mall Cop, they succeeded. This movie is indeed better than earlier Kevin James outings. If an audience’s goal is to see something light and fun that is out of the superhero genre that seems to have taken over the multiplexes this year, then they should give it a shot. If either the movie makers or goers think they’re in real quality film orbit, then they are living in a fantasy world in which, well, animals just might talk.
It’s easy to get past that unrealistic story line and enjoy the best part of the movie, which is James and his interaction with the zoo animals (and their scenes alone). The animal scenes actually have a lot of heart. The voice casting was inspired: Cher, Nick Nolte, Maya Rudolph, Sylvester Stallone, Judd Apatow, Jon Favreau, Sandler, Faizon Love, and Don Rickles are the highlights. I won’t mention which animals they voice, as half the fun is trying to place the voice with the animal – but I will say that they’re all perfect. Even the most cynical viewer will likely fall for the personality-plus zoo inhabitants and their hilarious dialogue. The best relationship in the movie was with Griffin and the gorilla Bernie – a true buddy pairing that really worked and was welcome on screen – and more believable than any of his relationships with humans. The production value that went into all of the animals is quite impressive.
Griffin loves his job as a zookeeper, but it is not a high-style/high income career that will attract hot (gold-digging) ladies, so he allows himself to get derailed into making himself over into a slick luxury car salesman, working alongside his brother (who has just married a hottie, played by James’ real-life wife Steffiana De La Cruz). He does this to change for Stephanie (Bibb), a woman he dated before (with disastrous results) who has come back for more because she sees him as someone who can be molded. The animals catch wind of the fact that he plans to hang up his zookeeper pants to get the girl, and they decide to break their silence, talk to him and get what they want, which is him staying on as their zookeeper. Anyone can see that his new life won’t last – there are not a lot of surprises in this movie as to who Griffin ends up with and whether or not he’ll come back to the zoo. The message hits the viewer over the head: be who you are, not what others expect you to be, and you’ll be happy and maybe you’ll even end up with Rosario Dawson (fellow zoo worker Kate), who is quite good in a movie that never really challenges her talents. She’s the moral center of this movie and one can almost buy her as a nerdy animal lover, all the while knowing that she is still stunning. There is a lot of reality that needs to be brushed aside to enjoy this movie, but it is certainly possible.
Kevin James in Zookeeper. © 2011 – Columbia TriStar.
The movie has a couple of requisite bad guys who serve to make Griffin all the more good in comparison. Joe Rogan plays Stephanie’s annoying flat-out jerk ex-boyfriend and would-be rival for her affection, and his presence allows for some crazy physical comedy. Donnie Walberg (with appropriate menace) plays a mean zoo worker who Griffin gets to put in his place. Ken Jeong is hilarious as Venom, a snake expert and zoo pal of Griffin’s. The movie is chock-full of good one-liners, most of which belong to Venom and the animals. Zookeeper is certainly better than the recent James vehicle The Dilemma, which he cannot fully be blamed for, as he wasn’t carrying the film like he ably does this one. He’s not aiming for awards here, but he is engaging and funny and he owns it.
I asked some kids who saw the movie what they thought of Zookeeper, and the general consensus was that they enjoyed the animal parts and could’ve skipped the human love stories, which was pretty much my opinion as well. James as Griffin wins you over and you can’t help but root for him. You don’t go to a movie like this expecting to be transformed, but there was much laughter in the theater and I was one of the entertained, though it’s kind of a summer treat like cotton candy – sweet and pleasurable for a moment, but it doesn’t last long. It’s not a movie that will stick with you past dinner at TGI Fridays (part of an ongoing gag in the movie), but hey, it’s summer and maybe that’s the point.
