Sometimes you look around and realize how much of an old fuddy-dud you’re becoming. I had this revelation Saturday night. It wasn’t anything as ludicrous as bird watching, but it was close. Kelley and I had put the girls to bed and were settling down to just relax. We couldn’t decide on a movie to watch or a game to play, so I started rifling through our vast DVD collection. After eliminating the Harry Potter and Johnny Depp movies, we were left with 4 selections. The only one we hadn’t seen yet was March of the Penguins. So what does an old couple do on Saturday night? They watch it….and they like it. This movie is simply a narrated view at the mating season of the penguins. You’d think that this would be boring…and it probably is, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying it.

First, the whole thing is narrated by Morgan Freeman. I listened intently to every word in hopes that he’d slip in some line about Andy Dufresne. He didn’t. It would have been cool if he did, though.

Next, these things are hilarious. I knew about their silly little waddle, but I had no idea that they had a funny honk, too. Who knew that Pingu was so well based on fact?! (he’s starting to make a comeback, by the way.) At any rate, whoever thinks that God doesn’t have a sense of humor has clearly never watched penguins. Of course, Kelley and I spent most of the movie adding in our own dialogue for what the penguins were saying to each other. We’re cool like that.

And finally, we got a little education. There’s a lot about penguins that we didn’t know. Morgan did a great job of informing us. When he plays a character, you just don’t get the sense that he’s well educated on the movements of non-flight birds. He’ll surprise you.

To summarize the movie, these birds slowly waddle over 70 miles and congregate into a huge group. There they mingle with lots of other penguins until they find just the right mate…which is easy to do when everyone looks the exact same. Then they go through this elaborate courtship, birthing, and chick-raising process that involves more long walks and a lot of missed meals. The parents lose a lot of sleep and a lot of weight caring for their chicks. They only survive the elements by huddling together.

Wait a minute, that stuff doesn’t sound amusing at all. It sounds like college and parenthood. I think maybe Morgan Freeman has pulled one over on us.