We Bought a Zoo Review

We Bought a Zoo (2011)

Dir: Cameron Crowe

We Bought a Zoo is a part of a particular sub-genre of movies that most people refer as “feel-good movies”. They are un-complicated dramas usually based on real-life events  were everything turns out for the best and in the end everyone is happy and viewers leave the theater with a positive attitude, a recent example of this is 2010’s Academy Award winner The King’s Speech.  They usually do well with critics and award shows (especially the Oscars) but I’ve never particularly cared for them. It’s not that I’m a depressive person, but they tend to be too by-the-book, not that they’re bad movies but if you’ve seen one you’ve seen most of them, which is why I’m surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did.

Cameron Crowe’s latest film stars Matt Damon as Benjamin, a widower who is trying his best to take care of his young daughter and rebellious son after the death of his wife.  Everyone around him feels pity for him, which drives him crazy and absolutely every place in the site reminds him of his wife so he decides to move to a place that will make him and his kids happy.  The problem is that his dream house is part of a zoo, complete with all kinds of exotic animals and a small staff to take care of them.

After some consideration he chooses to buy the zoo and reopen it. During the process he and his family establish a bond with the animals and the eccentric staff which includes Kelly (Scarlett Johansson) and her cousin (Elle Fanning).  There are complications, fights and misunderstandings but in the end everyone learns something from the experience.

Yes, this story is very predictable and some of the dialogue, particularly the one from the kids is pretty terrible.  It follows an extremely common pattern, down to the shot of the protagonist gazing at the sight of the house while a hopeful piano tune plays in the background, the comic relief little daughter, the love confession under the rain and working in the title of the movie in an inspirational speech, which is done a little too many times for my liking.

But deep in all the predictability and terrible dialogue lays a really sweet and charming story. While it starts out pretty bad, it picks up after the whole buying a zoo thing begins. The trials and tribulations of maintaining the animals is by far the most entertaining aspect, though the relationships between characters work well and while none of them are terribly deep, they all add something the story.

This is a movie that plays with the emotions, and does it well. I’m not afraid to admit that I shed a few tears during a particular scene with a tiger and I laughed a lot at some of the stuff that happened, there are a lot of funny moments there.  The relationship between Benjamin and Kelly is good but I was far more invested in the one between Elle fanning’s character and her son, which was a lot sweeter and more compelling.


Benjamin is the character who grows the most during the movie and Damon does a fine job showing the wide array of emotion he needs. Johansson plays somewhat against type as a character who is not as defined by her beauty as some of the other stuff she has done, which is a nice change.  With the exception of Elle Fanning, who is terrific in the movie, the kid actors are very soap-operish, becoming unintentionally funny sometimes and their line delivery is pretty terrible. Thomas Haden Church is the best part of the ensemble being hilarious as Benjamin’s older brother.

We bought a Zoo is more than the sum of its parts thanks to Cameron Crowe’s ability to create a touching story with charismatic characters. And despite the almost unbelievable and ridiculous positivity it is a film that everyone can enjoy, I’d recommend it even if like me, you’re not the type to watch this kind of films, because it is great.