We Bought a Zoo (2011)
Starring:
Matt Damon
Scarlett Johansson
Thomas Haden Church
Patrick Fugit
Directed by Cameron Crowe
Directed by Cameron Crowe, this comedy-drama family movie has all the
fun needed to be a family movie, but lacks the chunks that would make it a
must-watch.
Based on a book by Benjamin Mee, who, mind you, is British and the whole
thing happened in England. Although the story is set in England, the movie got
Americanized with the help of an all-American cast and set. That wasn't all
that was changed. Benjamin's wife died after they bought the zoo in the book, and in the movie, she is said to have died before they bought the zoo. This changed the story direction, and created the love story in the movie. Plus, in the book, the kids were
much younger.
Not that We Bought a Zoo was bad, it was just not that fascinating, it
is predictable, and I could not get into it. The story is as simple as they
come, the pacing is not that tight, it could not find a way to get me interested
in the idea of a man who buys a zoo and now he and his family make it home.
Matt Damon’s acting may be able to fool you as a concerned father of
two, but Scarlett Johansson’s acting couldn’t fool me, as a zookeeper who loved to
play with the kids.
Thomas Haden Church (Sandman in Spiderman 3) pulled off a nice job
playing Benjamin Mee’s brother, Duncan, who tried to urge his younger brother
to move on after the death of his wife. After much persuasion, he did. The
adventure seeker saddled up in his car and drove around with a realtor till he
came across a large field with a big house, which happens to be a zoo, and he
bought it and moved his family there. The zoo comes with staff, led by head keeper Kelly (Johansson), who becomes like a mother figure to the children.
Along with him for the ride on this adventure is Rosie Mee, his
7-year-old daughter, and 14-year-old moody and annoying son, Dylan. Benjamin is
a 6-month-old widower who quit his job because everyone seemed to pity him.
Hell, his boss begged him not to quit, but to be laid off instead so he
could get severance.
But he quit and, as said above, bought a zoo. But it all kinda
backfired. His son was still a mess and his life wasn’t getting any better,
till the end when they all lived happily ever after. (It’s a family movie.)
Cameron Crowe, who directed, wrote and produced the Academy Award movie Jerry Maguire, was the architect of this movie as he was both writer and director.
For me, this movie's family friendly tone was not to its advantage, as it made it hard to connect with anything happening. It is not a movie that is memorable and it is not a movie I would recommend that you see at all.
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