Kevin James is one of those comedians who has the ability to entertain both adults and children. He can walk the line of a bit dirtier comedy, but can still pull off the child-like shtick that kids love so much. I believe that dexterity lies in his personable nature. Well, he is back with another comedy that you can take the whole family to see: “Zookeeper.”
Directed by Frank Coraci (“The Waterboy” and “Click”) and starring Kevin James as Griffin Keyes, the movie features a lonely zookeeper who loses his girlfriend, Stephanie (Leslie Bibb), because he seems to be going nowhere in life. He then devotes his entire life to caring for the animals at the zoo where he works. When Stephanie re-enters his life, he contemplates giving up his job in order to have a life and hopefully win her back. The animals get together and decide they don’t want to lose the best zookeeper they have ever had and plan to intervene and help him win back the girl without having to leave his current position at the zoo.
With an all-star voice cast, this movie is bound to attract adults as well as kids. Some great actors also star in the movie such as Rosario Dawson, Ken Jeong, Donnie Wahlberg and Joe Rogan. The list gets even bigger when we look at the animal counterparts and the people who voice them: Nick Nolte, Adam Sandler, Sylvester Stallone, Cher, Judd Apatow, Jon Favreau, Maya Rudolph and Don Rickles.
In a featurette titled “Meet the Animals,” we get to see the actors in the recording studio, as well as onscreen as their animal alter ego’s onscreen. You get a sense of the personality of each animal just by seeing a little clip of them in this scene where they all come together to discuss Griffin leaving the zoo.
In two clips from the film, we get to see the animals up to some mischief, which is pretty funny. First, they try to order food over the phone but they hit a snag when it comes to payment; and in the second clip we get an animal really trying to convince Kevin James that it can drive a van. Guess how well that turns out?
The final four clips are focused on the humans of this story. We get to see the creepy snakeman named Venom (Ken Jeong) as he meets engaged couple Shane (Donnie Wahlberg) and Robin (Steffiana De La Cruz). Then, we get the awkward meeting of Griffin with his ex at an event and how the animals can tell he is nervous. Next, we get an attempt to make Griffin look like a hero to a girl with a little help from the animals, but you can always count on a man to mess things up. Lastly, we see Griffin trying to channel his inner graceful bird by attempting to use dance silks at the wedding of his friends, but we all know never to put an inexperienced person in a device that requires years of practice and extreme skill, especially in the middle of a wedding reception.
After seeing all of these clips, I would say the film has potential to be a fun family film. What do you think of the movie from what you have seen? Leave a comment and let us know.
Rated PG, “Zookeeper” will be snaking its way into theaters July 8.
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Cute clips and Featurette. However, I’m not going to see it in theaters and maybe watch it when it comes out of DVD.
I genuinely feel sorry for anyone who wants to see this.