zookeeper
“When his love life falls apart, the animals decide it's time to give him some advice.”
Director
Frank Coraci
Release
29 July 2011
Runtime
102 Minutes
Certificate
PG
Synopsis
Griffin Keyes has always had a natural connection with the animals he cares for at Franklin Park Zoo. People are more complicated. Years after Stephanie rejected his proposal, Griffin still hasn't completely moved on. When she returns to his life, he begins wondering whether changing himself — and perhaps leaving the zoo — could finally make him the man she wants. The animals aren't having that. They know Griffin cares about them, and they don't want to lose him. So they do something humans aren't supposed to know they're capable of doing. They talk. Once Griffin gets over the small matter of discovering that the animals he's spent years caring for can hold conversations, they begin teaching him their own approaches to attraction and courtship. The advice produces predictably chaotic results. Meanwhile, Gryphon's friendship with fellow zoo employee Kate begins showing him something his pursuit of Stephanie has prevented him from recognising. Perhaps finding the right person isn't about becoming somebody else. Perhaps it's about finding someone who already likes the person you are.
The Movie Trailer
Zookeeper is a 2011 family comedy starring Kevin James as Griffin Keyes, a kind-hearted zookeeper who is far more comfortable looking after animals than navigating his romantic life.
Griffin loves his job at Franklin Park Zoo, but he starts to wonder whether his career is keeping him from finding the relationship he wants.
His former girlfriend Stephanie rejected his marriage proposal years earlier, and when she unexpectedly re-enters his life, Griffin becomes determined to win her back.
There's just one problem.
The animals at the zoo think he's going about it completely the wrong way.
Faced with the possibility of losing their favourite keeper, they break their oldest rule and reveal that they can talk.
Suddenly Griffin has an entire zoo offering him relationship advice.
Whether taking dating tips from lions, bears and monkeys is actually a good idea is another matter entirely.
THE ANIMALS CAN TALK
Griffin Discovers His Co-Workers Have Plenty to Say
Griffin believes he understands the animals at Franklin Park Zoo better than most people.
He has no idea how literally true that is.
The animals have always been able to talk. They simply follow a rule: humans must never discover their secret.
The possibility of Griffin leaving forces them to break it.
Suddenly, the zookeeper who has spent years talking to his animals discovers that they've been perfectly capable of answering him all along.
And once they start talking, they have plenty of opinions about Griffin's love life.
ANIMAL ATTRACTION
Dating Advice Gets Wild at Franklin Park Zoo
The animals approach Griffin's romantic problems from a very different perspective.
Human dating etiquette means little to creatures whose ideas about attraction come from the animal kingdom.
Griffin nevertheless decides to listen.
What follows is a collection of increasingly ridiculous attempts to apply animal behaviour to human relationships, as Gryphon tries to become the confident man he thinks Stephanie wants.
But the harder he tries to transform himself, the further he moves away from the qualities that made the animals care about him in the first place.
Their advice might be questionable.
Their loyalty isn't.
BE YOURSELF
Griffin's Biggest Lesson Doesn't Come From Winning Stephanie Back
Beneath the talking animals and physical comedy, Zookeeper revolves around a simple question.
Should Griffin have to change his life to convince somebody to love him?
His pursuit of Stephanie gradually pushes him to become someone he isn't, while Kate sees the qualities Griffin already has.
The animals understand something Griffin takes considerably longer to recognise.
He loves his work.
He's good at it.
And being rejected by one person doesn't mean the things that make him happy are somehow wrong.
Griffin spends much of the film learning how to attract someone else.
His real lesson is becoming comfortable with himself.