Zookeeper (2011)
Average Rating: 3.4/10
Reviews Counted: 125
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 107
Zookeeper smothers Kevin James's with a sodden script and a surfeit of jokes inappropriate for the young viewers who would be intrigued by its juvenile storyline.
Average Rating: 3.7/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 24
Zookeeper smothers Kevin James's with a sodden script and a surfeit of jokes inappropriate for the young viewers who would be intrigued by its juvenile storyline.
liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 40,497
My Rating
Movie Info
In Zookeeper, the animals at the Franklin Park Zoo love their kindhearted caretaker, Griffin Keyes (Kevin James). Finding himself more comfortable with a lion than a lady, Griffin decides the only way to get a girl in his life is to leave the zoo and find a more glamorous job. The animals, in a panic, decide to break their time-honored code of silence and reveal their biggest secret: they can talk! To keep Griffin from leaving, they decide to teach him the rules of courtship - animal style. --
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Cast
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Kevin James
Griffin Keyes -
Rosario Dawson
Kate -
Leslie Bibb
Stephanie -
Ken Jeong
Venom -
Donnie Wahlberg
Shane -
Adam Sandler
Donald the Monkey -
Cher
Janet the Lioness -
Jon Favreau
Jerome the Bear -
Joe Rogan
Gale -
Nat Faxon
Dave -
Sylvester Stallone
Joe the Lion -
Steffiana De La Cruz
Robin -
Judd Apatow
Barry the Elephant -
Nick Bakay
Franky -
Jim Breuer
Crow -
Faizon Love
Bruce the Bear -
Jackie Sandler
TGIF Waitress -
Nick Turturro
Manny -
Bas Rutten
Sebastian the Wolf -
Thomas Gottschalk
Jurgen -
Brandon Keener
Nimer -
Robin Bakay
Rebecca -
Gary Valentine
Pizza Guy -
Tanner Blaze
Little Boy at Zoo -
Tim Gage
Bike Guy -
Gino Falsetto
Valet -
Etienne Deneault
Acrobat -
Katrina Begin
Secretary at TGIF -
Matthew R. Staley
Glenn -
Michael Burton
Car Customer -
Todd Zeile
High Roller -
Mookie Barker
Grandfather -
Tara Giordano
Shana -
Daniel Guire
Salesmen -
Mark DellaGrotte
Salesman -
Ellen Colton
Shane's Mother -
Barry Bernardi
Cab Driver -
Juston McKinney
Upscale Restaurant Mana... -
Nick Nolte
Bernie the Gorilla -
Maya Rudolph
Mollie the Giraffe -
Don Rickles
Frog -
Richie Minervini
Ostrich
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Zookeeper Trailer & Photos
All Critics (126) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (109) | DVD (6)
Funniest moments? The outtakes during the closing credits. I rest my case.
Top CriticI think there should be a subdivision of the ASPCA -- American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Audiences.
Did we mention that things just go better with Kevin James? Well-trodden comedy hooks become strangely more amusing. Goofball physical shtick elicits broader smiles. The bumblingly stupid is made endearing.
Will most audiences mind this? Probably not. Should they? Of course. They deserve better and frankly, so does Kevin James.
Unfortunately, nobody had the good sense to call the comedy authorities and shut this Zookeeper down.
A children's comedy about talking animals that feels as if it were written by children or, perhaps, by talking animals.
Kevin James' new comedy Zookeeper may be popular with the kiddos, but slapstick humor and a cookie-cutter storyline doom it for adults.
Give Kevin James this much credit -- the dude leaves it all on the field, even when the movie's bad.
A high concept-movie falls almost as flat as star Kevin James doing pratfalls.
Doesn't belabor its punch lines and it maximizes James' likeability to a mostly winning result.
The latest in an increasingly long line of misbegotten Kevin James comedies...
ksanazestamena romantika klise kai afelh hthikoplastika dilhmmata, poy mporeis na problepseis kai na kalyterepseis monos soy, prin kan shkwtheis ap' ton kanape na pas sthn aithoysa na deis thn tainia
Sometimes a kid's movie is just a kid's movie. In the case of Zookeeper, it's a place where young imaginations go to die.
From the unstoppable Adam Sandler hit factory comes this pleasant, kid-friendly, ultra-formulaic shlub-does-good comedy.
Fans of the sight of James falling over will get a big kick out of Zookeeper, but this deranged comedy will leave everyone else scratching their heads.
It isn't terrible, it's just dull.
Why is Kevin James a top-billed movie star? When did this happen? Why is it happening?
Kevin James talks to the animals in Adam Sandler-scented rom-com.
Just who will be amused by James mugging and hugging his way into the heart of a good woman (Rosario Dawson? In your dreams, Kevin!) is a question that simply cannot be answered.
With the exception of some nice moments, mainly due to Kevin James' wholesome and lovable lead, Zookeeper is a flop and should be watched at your own peril.
To produce something as emphatically unfunny as this, the script's five-man team must have whipped themselves into a state of mutual delusion.
Failing to succeed as a rom-com or a kids' flick, this feels surprisingly flat with the animals, and Kevin James, never really coming alive.
Audience Reviews for Zookeeper
Super Reviewer
Just right for six - seven year olds.
Super Reviewer
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- Bernie the Gorilla: Is TGI Fridays really as good as they say?
- Griffin Keyes: It's pretty good.
-
- Joe the Lion: Griffin, we need to talk.
-
- Donald the Monkey: Whoa! Slow it down, hot shot.
-
- Donald the Monkey: It's all about the thumbs.
-
- Griffin Keyes: How long have you been able to talk?
- Donald the Monkey: Let's see, today's Tuesday, so... always.
-
- Bernie the Gorilla: This mask hasn't been washed in years! The last guy who wore it could've thrown up in it!
Discussion Forum
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Foreign Titles
- Der Zoowärter (DE)
- The Zookeeper (UK)
"Don't talk to the animals... unless they talk to you first."
Zookeeper is a rather messy, cliche, predictable family comedy that uses a premise that all animals can talk and that they will even befriend a certain type of person. So, so far this sounds awful. That's how I figured I'd view the film. I thought I wouldn't like it, and I believed it would be horrible. Now while it isn't a good movie by any standards, I was completely surprised by it. Somehow all this stupidness ends up being a rather fun time, even with Adam Sandler's horrible voice for the monkey.
At the beginning of this movie we see a zookeeper propose to his girlfriend. It doesn't go well and then the story jumps several years ahead where we see that he's still a zookeeper even though the only reason his girlfriend wouldn't marry him was because he was a zookeeper. He loves his work though. When he runs into his girlfriend at a party for his brother who is getting married, he tries to win her back. A bunch of the zoo animals decide to try to help him out with his relationship problems and begin talking to him. In the end the story has the same sort of family theme that you don't need to change who you are to be happy.
I sort of have an affection for these dumb comedies that Kevin James has been starring in. I didn't even hate Mall Cop. I've been a fan of James since I grew up watching his television show, The King of Queens. Ever since then, I always check out whatever he's in no matter how awful it looks. I was happy I checked out Mall Cop and now I'm happy I checked out Zookeeper.
In the end, you sort of now what you're going to get from a movie like this. It isn't an amazing film by any standards, but there's something that is really likable about it all. I never thought I would say anything with talking animals would be likable, but this is just one of those times where a movie really surprises you.