Zookeeper (PG) *Directed by: Frank Coraci
Starring: Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb
The inexplicable progress of Kevin James – from star of sitcoms nobody over here watched (King of Queens) to lead in movies nobody anywhere ought to have watched (Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Grown-Ups) – continues unabated. As produced by Adam Sandler, this lame kids’ pic is essentially Paul Blart In A Zoo, with elements of director Coraci’s The Wedding Singer and Eddie Murphy’s Dr. Dolittle movies: James’s just-dumped zookeeper Griffin turns to his suddenly chatty animal charges – including, wholly randomly, Cher and Sly Stallone voicing married lions – for advice in wooing his colleague (Dawson, better than this).
The premise cues first painful slapstick, then a number of discover-your-inner-beast gags pursued with greater energy in the Sandler-produced Rob Schneider vehicle The Animal ten years ago. To its credit, Zookeeper waits 40 minutes before venturing its first pee or poop joke, but its set-pieces (James and a gorilla dancing to Flo-Rida’s “Low”) will seem weak indeed to the over-10s, and even the very young will get bored when the talking animals disappear so Griffin can sort out his love life. If this is what the holidays are going to bring about, the kids may be better off back in school.
Zookeeper is on nationwide release.
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