robroy-00178

My wife loves penguins. Any time there is a movie about penguins, I try to watch it with her. The fact that I ended up loving this particular movie so much was somewhat unexpected. So many things worked well. The balance of comedy and drama. The performances. The story arc. Definitely a "I laughed and I cried" sort of movie. And a quiet film overall. But I laughed harder than I thought I would, many times. Steve Coogan was perfectly cast as a cynical middle aged burned out teacher. The movie is really about him and less the penguin. It effectively does everything it means to do and I would happily see it again soon!

I have watched this each Thanksgiving for the past several years, after seeing it in the theaters back in the day, when I was in high school. No spoilers here. Just please see it if you need some great consistent laughs and even a few moments that may move you. Every scene is a classic. I love many of John Hughes movies-this was not my favorite back when I was a teenager (though I did enjoy it then), but is likely my favorite from him as I've grown older. John Candy is at his very best and Steve Martin, in unusual fashion, plays the straight man here in the comedy team. I truly can't imagine not enjoying this movie, at least to some degree, no matter who you are!