We Bought a Zoo


Starring: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford, Maggie Elizabeth Jones, Angus Macfayden, Elle Fanning, Patrick Fugit
Directed by: Cameron Crowe
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
2011

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A father (Matt Damon) moves his family from the city to the country to reopen a struggling zoo.

Review:

Tim: There was something just so unappealing about this movie to me. The whole thing just reeked of Hollywood, even though I knew it was based on a true story. I like Cameron Crowe, so I was willing to give this a shot, but it just seemed so stupid to me. I have to begrudgedly admit that Crowe crafts an entertaining, worthwhile film here. Even after watching it and enjoying it, though, it's hard for me to get too excited about this movie.

While it was based (or more likely inspired) by a true story, the whole thing just felt too outlandish to me. A family buys a zoo and then learn life lessons while reopening it. I just saw the whole thing play out before my eyes, and it did not excite or inspire me. This is just such a Hollywood story- rather than tell a powerful story about a family grieving from a loss (that would be more relatable to many people), of course, we get this fantastic zoo adventure. I hate the idea of this movie.

That being said, I enjoyed the execution. Crowe is such a terrific filmmaker, and he knows exactly which buttons to push and when to push them. We Bought a Zoo (oh, and I hate that title) is an entertaining, funny, occasionally powerful film. Crowe's expert hand is obviously at work here. We early on identify with the main characters- Matt Damon is a grieving widower, his teenage son is rebellious, and his daughter is cute beyond belief. While this has been done numerous times before, it works within the context of this film. Crowe makes sure we identify with these characters and we actually care about them. Because he takes care of that first, it's easier to swallow the whole moving-into-a-zoo aspect of the story. Wisely, Crowe never lets the zoo or the animals overshadow the human characters or their struggles. That's what allowed this movie to be as successful as it was.

This is not to say that Crowe was flawless in his execution. There's a few emotional moments that felt like Crowe was manipulating our emotions. I don't like to feel that way while watching a movie. There are some geniune emotional moments throughout the film, but a couple of scenes just felt far too manipulative. The story is interesting, but there's never really anything that makes you sit up and take notice. Crowe does enough to keep you interested, but never really engages the audience on any deep level.

Matt Damon is mostly good as the father. His performance was warm and I cared about his character. Unfortunately, there's a few moments that just come across as so forced and so cheesy that they truly made me cringe. One example is the scene when he kicks the barrel. I just did not buy his performance in a few spots, and the sheer cheesiness of these scenes greatly hurt the overall film. I was surprised how much I liked Scarlett Johansson here. She wisely plays a restrained, stripped down character here (emotionally, not clothing-wise). It was nice to see her never steal the focus away from Damon, only supporting him in small ways throughout the film. I did not care much for Elle Fanning here. She can give terrific performances, but I thought she was forced and unrealistic in this film. She simply did not work for me. Colin Ford and Maggie Elizabeth Jones are good as Damon's kids, and Thomas Haden Church adds a nice supporting role as his brother. While not perfect, the cast is quite good.

While watching We Bought a Zoo, I was willing to go on this journey with Cameron Crowe. This story, though, in a lesser director's hands, could have been a disaster. I can easily see how I would have hated this movie. However, Crowe knows what he's doing, and he crafts a funny, entertaining movie. While this story isn't incredibly memorable (I feel like I will forget it fairly soon), the experience of watching this film is enjoyable. I wish it was a bit shorter than 124 minutes, but I have to admit Crowe puts together a pretty good movie here.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Almost Famous, Super 8