Zookeeper. Rated PG (mild crude humour). 102 minutes. Directed by Frank Coraci. Screenplay by Nick Bakay, Rock Reuben, Kevin James, Jay Scherick and David Ronn.
With its big heart in the right place and an endearing supporting cast of talking animals, it’s surprising that Zookeeper is not a good deal more fun than it is. Even with the input of five writers, the script struggles to become anything other than a very ordinary romantic comedy – which is a shame because it certainly has its moments. The real problem is that combined, they just don’t add up to very much.
Kevin James (Everybody Loves Raymond) is awkward and charming as unlucky-in-love zookeeper Griffin, and the opening sequence where he is unceremoniously dumped by his gorgeous girlfriend Stephanie (Leslie Bibb having a great time), sets us up perfectly for what is only ever an occasionally engaging story about how he tries to win her back.
Coraci (The Wedding Singer) wields a heavy hand over the indecisive script – steadfastly refusing to let the story gain any momentum. No-one is helped by Scott Hill’s (Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty) pace-less editing of sequences (like the ones at Griffin’s brother’s wedding) that just become terminally dull.
Interestingly, there is a stark contrast between most of the goings-on and a mildly involving subplot between Griffin and Bernie the Gorilla (voiced by Nick Nolte). Donnie Wahlberg (Mark’s brother) is under-utilised in his brief turn as the nasty zookeeper who abuses the gentle Bernie – but as soon as the film appears to be charting its way on a new and more interesting course, we find ourselves back in strained and less-rewarding rom-com land.
The always-reliable Rosario Dawson (Unstoppable) is excellent as Griffin’s colleague Kate, and it’s always good to see Ken Jeong (The Hangover movies) relishing one of his bent cameos (this time as Venom the reptile handler).
In spite of the overall confusion in tone and handling, the message that finally emerges is a good one: which is that maybe you have a good deal less in common with the person you’re trying so hard to impress than you imagined.
Pictured: Griffin (Kevin James) and Bernie the Gorilla in Zookeeper.
This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.
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