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I like Kevin James, and have since THE KING OF QUEENS. There’s a honesty to his comedic performance, and a relatable awkwardness as well. Heck, I even rather enjoyed PAUL BLART: MALL COP, no matter how much I felt like I shouldn’t have. But his newest film looks more in the vein of A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM type of fare, which I’ve never been terribly fond of. ZOOKEEPER finds James tending to the wild animals inside a zoo, and hoping to win back his former flame. But when a potential job threatens to take him away from his furry friends, the animals start speaking up (literally) and do everything they can to keep him in their habitat. Of course to ease Kevin’s mind, they also try to educate him on how to get the girl… and hilarity ensues. The rest of the cast includes Leslie Bibb, Rosario Dawson, Sylvester Stallone, Ken Jeong, Donnie Wahlberg, Joe Rogan, Adam Sandler, Cher, Jon Favreau, Judd Apatow, Jim Breuer, Faizon Love, Bas Rutten, and Nicholas Turturro – FYI, some of those are just voices, but you get the idea. There’s a few chuckles here, though the story looks pretty telegraphed. Still, hearing Sly Stallone voicing the lion will make just about anyone sport a guilty pleasure smile. Check out the trailer below and tell us your thoughts in the comments.
The animals at the Franklin Park Zoo love their kindhearted caretaker, Griffin Keyes. 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.
ZOOKEEPER opens July 8, 2011
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
