We Bought A Zoo

It’s been a while since there’s been a family film such as this. Funny, silly, threat free (with a bit of drama thrown in) and as far from reality as you can get (even though, ironically, this is (loosely) based on a true story). After the death of his wife, Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon, arguably looking an adult for the first time in his career) begins to look for a new home for his young family and himself to move into. Finding a huge house out in the countryside things are looking good. There’s a catch though; it comes with a zoo attached. Unperturbed Mee moves his family in and they begin to renovate the struggling zoo in order to save it and re-open it for the public. If you’re not sure if they succeed or not then you’re a madder than a barrel full of monkeys. This is a comedy drama and there’s a clear line how it’s shown. The drama comes from Mee’s troubled relationship with his son, which is nicely portrayed on the screen, whilst the majority of laughs actually come from the minor characters including Thomas Haden Church as Mee’s brother, J.B. Smoove as an inexperienced estate agent and John Michael Higgins as a strict zoo inspector, complete with comedy measuring tape. All in all this is very well acted and perhaps it’s a bit more than the formulaic plot line deserves. Though it’s not any of the established stars that still the show, that honour belonging to newcomer Maggie Elizabeth Jones, outrageously cute as Mee’s young daughter. You may raise an eyebrow when you discover that the director of this is Cameron Crowe. It’s been six years since his last film and he was in danger of being forgotten about. I doubt this will get him back on the A-list, but at least you can say this is better than Elizabethtown. This is a film based in a perfect world where things will always eventually turn out for the best, so if you’re in a cynical mood I’d give it a miss. However, if you want something to warm the heart during these cold winter months you could do a lot worse than this.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Turns a blind eye to reality, but surely we’d all be pretty depressed if they’re weren’t films like this around. Rating: 7/10.