THE MOVIE:

It's a strange time to be a Kevin Smith fan.

There was a period - not too long ago - when Smith was revered and touted as a major player in American cinema. Despite its aesthetic limitations, Clerks was a film that bristled with life and energy, capturing the voice of a generation that had been largely ill-defined. Later, after the failure of the studio-ordained Mallrats, Smith produced what many consider to be his masterpiece in 1997's Chasing Amy. Like Clerks, Amy was raw, hilarious and defiantly profound and it was this kind of truthful, heart-on-the-sleeve storytelling that began to endear Smith to so many of his fans. Here was a filmmaker who was unafraid to draw from his personal life to create art for his audience.

Even as subsequent films began to dwindle in quality, Smith recognized the value in having a vis-...Read the entire review

THE MOVIE:

It's tough to engage in a thoughtful discussion of Adam Sandler and Kevin James' Zookeeper. Like most other Happy Madison productions, it's formulaic to a fault in its depiction of an underdog (of the gigolo, redneck or in this case, chubby schlub persuasion) searching for acceptance and fulfillment only to stumble upon true love along the way. When the blueprint works, we get passable, matinee-worthy junk like Mr. Deeds and Anger Management. When it goes wrong, though, it goes there disastrously. With Zookeeper, it feels like Sandler and company stuck to the recipe but used sour milk.

The plot is simple enough that viewers will be charting its contours from the very first frames. It begins with lovable zookeeper Griffin Keyes (James) proposing to his girlfriend Stephanie (Leslie Bibb) at the beach. He's a sweet guy and the set...Read the entire review