Some movies are amazing and some movies are dreadful. C’est
la vie. The Zookeeper falls into the amazingly-dreadful category.
Seriously, how badly can you screw up a story about a clumsy, kind
hearted guy who is given advice on his love life by talking wild animals? That
premise has CUTE written all over it. Sure, it’s a tired plot and no one associated
will win any awards but sassy animals, one liners, bad people getting their
comeuppance and the good guy finally getting the (best) girl are what escapism
and entertainment is all about - for the major part. But this lemon of a snooze-fest is as dull as dishwater.
Here the script is as cliched as the previous sentence, the animals are unfunny, the
special (!) effects are terrible and most of the actors are completely
disconnected from what’s going on in the movie. They seem to just wander
around, deliver a line or two and stare at Kevin James trying valiantly to be
funny and constantly failing.
Rosario Dawson has a smug smile that screams “You paid to
watch this while I laughed all the way to the bank”
Leslie Bibb tries hard and almost succeeds at being a
vapid, vacuous, gold digger. The guy in the gorilla suit and she are the
highlights of this film and that’s hardly a compliment since they should be
trying hard to wipe this embarrassment off their resume.
Nobody walks into this sort of a movie expecting award
winning performances. Movie goers line up in droves for a fun night out with
the family, watching a light-hearted movie with a happy ending. The movie made
money for precisely this very reason but it is doubtful if people will continue to patronise the makers after viewing this.
AVOID.
