Jim Carrey is back in a laughfest

MANILA, Philippines - The old Hollywood archetype of the ideal family man — the loving, responsible father — is the kindly, even saintly, protective “old man” represented by the likes of Spencer Tracy and James Stewart. But as times have changed — and the father as a family bedrock has not — there have been a few alterations to the image.

For one, the father is not king of a solid household anymore, the likelihood being he’s separated or divorced from the wife, and the children may only be occasional visitors. For another, he may not be the serious, old-fashioned old-reliable pater familia anymore.

In the case of Jim Carrey, he seems to have wisely bid goodbye to the loony, young characters that propelled him to the top of the Hollywood A-list mainstream in the ‘90s, and with fluctuating success, he turned to more and more comedies of substance, even if they meant tremendous risks to his box-office clout. The somehow kilometric titles of these movies suggest the higher plane he tried to reach: The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Gone was the incredible, show-stopping lunacy of his early years: The Mask, Dumb & Dumber, Ace Ventura Pet Detective.

In the new Mr. Poppins’ Penguins, he’s back in a laughfest that has the weight and sharp insights of the more worthy comedies of Carrey’s mid-period: Yes Man, Bruce Almighty, The Truman Show, The Cable Guy. In Mr. Poppins, he shares the spotlight with animated penguins (the blend with live action is seamless). The title character befits him — a nice and successful family man with a crazy streak. It’s a great father-son role.

In boyhood, Mr. Poppins yearned for fatherly affection, the old man being an absentee breadwinner who worked in far-away places, communicating with him and his mother only by long distance and once-in-a-rare family togetherness, treating them to a memorable dinner at a classy, beautiful New York bistro.

Now himself a father of two, he is a hotshot real estate developer who lives in an exclusive and pricey Manhattan apartment where he welcomes his two children and their mother, his friendly ex, on certain days. The visits feel more like obligatory father-children reunion until something happens: Mr. Poppins receives a posthumous gift from his father from Antarctica — a box containing chunks of ice and a penguin, not a toy penguin such as those seen on the city sidewalk, or a taxidermist’s stuffed carcass but a real live one.

The movie does not explain (nor does it need to) how the transit of the gift could have been accomplished, given the living nature of the crate’s content, but the inevitable ensues — a bedlam. Later the cutesy creature finds additional welcome company in a new crate of five fellow penguins also from Antarctica, which spells more bedlam.

The movie explains, however, how different parties react to this unusual situation (the concierge, a suspicious neighbor, the zoo administrator) and how Poppins deals with these various challenges. The unfolding story invariably poses the question of whether the families (humans and penguins) will stay together and for how long.

Simply put, the penguins are the catalyst for Poppins’ renewed family ties and his own reawakened set of values.

The daughter at first is irksome as a grumpy teener with boyfriend problems but the son has a sunny disposition. The wife (Carla Gugino, seen in Faster, Watchmen, Night at the Museum, Spy Kids, and the recent Sucker Punch as an animatrix) is the one predictable element in the movie: Will she or won’t she drift back to her ex-hubby despite having a current beau? In any case, the penguins win the family over, including a pretty, naïve-looking office aide with a British accent (Ophelia Lovibund), a reliable ally.

The penguins are another proof of Hollywood expertise in creating life and humor from good and unobtrusive animation. These creations are potential scene stealers but Carrey is one star who does not heed — and gets away with — the warning that no actor should share the limelight with two “things”: Children and animals lest he will be eclipsed by them.

Most distinguished member of the cast is Ms. Angela Lansbury as a society maven on whom Poppins’ flourishing career depends. Lansbury has been with the entertainment world for over half a century, lording over three fields — film, stage and television; in film, from her Oscar-nominated turn in Gaslight (1942) with Oscar winner Ingrid Bergman, and a sexy, singing saloon gal in The Harvey Girls (1946) with Judy Garland, to the dramatic thriller The Manchurian Candidate and the musicals Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Pirates of Penzance. Glorious

 stage credits include Mame, Gypsy, The Madwoman of Chaillot, and Sweeney Todd. On TV, her star shone brightest as Agatha Christie’s elderly sleuth Mrs. Marple. At 86, Lansbury is a living legend who continues to be active professionally.

Still, it is Carrey who carries the movie. He needs the movie. Of late, he has tried to be more and more serious in his choice of roles, sometimes with disastrous results: The exasperating art-house mystery thriller The Number 23 (2007), his darkest, most eccentric movie ever, and last year’s I Love You Philip Morris in which he plays a conman who goes in and out of prison for the love of his life, played by Ewan McGregor. Some fans might have worried that the gay role would be a career killer, but like his early comic characters with their rubbery bodies and changing shapes, the actor invariably springs back and gets a plum role, such as he does in this new comedy.

Along the way, the movie gives glimpses of four Chaplin classics to compare the silent star’s jerky movements with those of the penguins and also maybe as a guidepost for the current star to sustain career growth. The movie also takes moviegoers to beloved Manhattan landmarks like bridges, the Flatiron building, and the Metropolitan and Guggenheim museums. The latter is setting for one riotous segment showing the stray penguins gliding down the spiral floor of Frank Lloyd Wright’s unique structure during a posh cocktail party.

But either as a visit to New York, a family story, a star turn, or a Father’s Day treat, Mr. Poppins’ Penguins will make a lot of happy feet.