We Bought A Zoo
Cameron Crowe
The story: Widower Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) gets a fresh start by buying a new house – one with a rundown zoo attached. While trying to connect with his sullen teenage son and looking after his young daughter, he also has to get the animal park ready for its opening with the help of head zookeeper Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson). Based on the 2008 memoir by Benjamin Mee.

We Bought A Zoo wants to be a warm-hearted feel- good offering for the holiday season but it ends up feeling a tad calculated instead.
The Hollywood treatment begins by transplanting the story stateside, turning the Dartmoor Zoological Park of the book into the film’s Rosemoor Animal Park.
Then it adds star power courtesy of Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson.
After a busy year of high-concept dramas such as the sci-fi thriller The Adjustment Bureau (2011) and the medical thriller Contagion (2011), Damon relaxes with a supporting voice part in the animation Happy Feet Two and a not-too-taxing role as a widower-father trying to cope.
Even as a rather unlikely zookeeper, Johansson manages to up the movie’s glamour factor. The bigger problem is the cliched attraction between Kelly and Benjamin, conveniently available here, though in the book, he was taking care of his sick and dying wife.
Meanwhile, sullen Dylan Mee (Colin Ford) has innocent rural girl Lily (a charmingly gauche Elle Fanning) to draw him out of his emotional shell.
And Rosie Mee (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) is yet another cute moppet who spouts lines that are meant to elicit an “Oh, isn’t that adorable?” reaction.
Given that the park had 50 varieties of animals ranging from tigers to snakes to zebras, one was hoping for some entertaining interactions between them and the humans.
But even with a runaway creature and a last-minute problem with the lion’s cage on inspection day, there is not enough engaging animal drama.
Writer-director Cameron Crowe proved that he knew how to work with cute kids in the comedy drama Jerry Maguire (1996) and that he could tell a compelling story in Almost Famous (2000) but he is decidedly less assured here in his grasp of the tale.
If you are looking for a funny and entertaining story about animals, pick up a copy of Gerald Durrell’s classic My Family And Other Animals (1956) instead.
(ST)