We Bought a Zoo

Plot synopsis:
Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) is still grieving the loss of his wife and dealing with the expulsion of his 14-year-old son, Dylan (Colin Ford), from school, and decides to make a restart by buying a new house. He tours many houses with his 7-year-old daughter, Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), and his realtor, Mr. Stevens (J. B. Smoove), but finds none he likes until his daughter finds a listing with what seems like the perfect house. They drive to an old large house and Benjamin inspects the property, telling his realtor it is perfect. When they hear a lion roar, Stevens explains that the house comes with a zoo in the back, which closed several years before; if they want the house, they must buy the zoo.
Although reluctant at first, Mee decides to buy the zoo when he sees Rosie happily playing with the peacocks. Dylan, however, hates the idea of moving away from his friends and retreats into his artwork which has grown more macabre since the death of his mother. Benjamin's brother, Duncan (Thomas Haden Church), tries to dissuade him from the purchase, but Benjamin buys it anyway. The zoo staff, led by the 28-year-old head keeper, Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson), help to start renovating the zoo with the intent to reopen it to the public. When Kelly confronts Benjamin about why he bought a zoo, knowing nothing about running one, Benjamin simply responds "Why not?". Dylan befriends Kelly's 13-year-old homeschooled cousin, Lily Miska (Elle Fanning), who develops a romantic interest that Dylan is oblivious to.
A strict USDA inspector, Walter Ferris (John Michael Higgins), arrives for a surprise inspection and makes a list of repairs that would cost around $100,000, which Benjamin does not have. Rhonda Blair (Carla Gallo), the zoo's accountant, gossips that Benjamin will probably sell the zoo. The workers' morale sinks, fearing the property will be sold to a buyer that will close it down.
When Lily tells Dylan that she heard his family might be leaving, he is overjoyed, which hurts her feelings. Benjamin discovers that his wife bequeathed him an investment account, with instructions to use the money wisely while listening to his heart. Duncan advises him to walk away and start over with the money, but Benjamin decides to use the money to repair the zoo. While this lifts the zoo workers' morale, Dylan is unhappy about having to stay; he confronts his father, and a heated argument ensues. They reconcile the next morning and Dylan admits he misses Lily. Benjamin gives his son advice using his favorite principle, that you only need 20 seconds of courage to achieve great things. Benjamin realizes that instead of trying to start over by forgetting his wife, he should accept that she will always be a part of him.
Prior to the grand opening of the zoo, the facility passes a very stringent inspection from Ferris, who grudgingly wishes them good luck. Dylan, following his father's advice, confesses to Lily that he loves her and she forgives him. The week prior to the opening, the worst rainstorm in 100 years is predicted to wash it out. The weather clears in time, but in the morning they are disappointed when no visitors arrive. They discover that a fallen tree has blocked the access road, with a large crowd of waiting visitors behind it. The staff help them to climb over the tree. There are so many people that they run out of tickets, forcing Benjamin and Kelly to look for more. They end up face to face in a shed, where Kelly admits to Benjamin that she is romantically interested in him and since she "can't get a handle on it", she kisses him, telling him that maybe they can do it again on New Year's Eve; Benjamin kisses her back, and tells her that he is looking forward to it.
Benjamin takes his children to the restaurant where he met their mother, explaining that it was the point where their existence became a possibility. He takes them through that day's encounter, where Benjamin worked up the nerve to talk to his future wife with "20 seconds of insane courage", and walks up to the table she was at. He visualizes her (Stéphanie Szostak) sitting there, and asks her why such an amazing woman would talk to someone like him. She responds, "Why not?".

Tags: feel-good

Review:
For me personally, I never seem to agree with Crowe's casting taste (Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson never do much for me) but Cameron has a way with actors and a true vision for his story.
My favorite scene is when the Realtor tells Matt Damon's character, "Benjamin" that the house they wanted to buy was also a zoo.
Each personality portrayed in a relatable way as if you were on the team helping run the zoo itself.If you and your family are wanting to go see a movie this holiday season, go and see We Bought A Zoo. It is the perfect film to tug at your heart strings, leave you with tears in your eyes, and hope in your heart..
What I can tell you is that this version of the Mee family and the zoo staff is interesting and entertaining, even if you just have to let go and allow yourself to be guided through.Matt Damon plays Benjamin Mee and the story picks up after his wife dies.
Ms. Fanning is one of the top young actresses working today and her contributions here are limited to that luminescent smile.The wild cast of supporting actors includes wise-cracking Thomas Haden Church as Benjamin's brother, JB Smoove as the Realtor, Peter Riegert as Mee's editor, Patrick Fugit (from Almost Famous) as the guy with a monkey on his shoulder, Angus Macfadyen as the colorful zoo maintenance man, and John Michael Higgins as the snooty zoo inspector who knowingly holds their future in his smarmy hand.As always, Crowe uses music better than most any other director.
You can't get more obvious what your film is about with a title like 'We Bought a Zoo', but fortunately director Cameron Crowe's adaptation of British journalist Benjamin Mee's autobiography possesses much more subtlety and nuance than what its title would suggest.
The story of a grieving widower who makes the unusual decision to buy a rural property whose 18 acres includes the Rosemoor Animal Park, it is also Crowe's first feature since his 2005 flop 'Elizabethtown' and the feel-good family movie represents a welcome return to form for the talented filmmaker behind such classics like 'Say Anything' and 'Jerry Maguire'.Working off a script by 'The Devil Wears Prada' and 'Morning Glory's' Aline Brosh McKenna, Crowe grounds the high-concept tale in a heart- warming story about a lonely widower trying to overcome his grief for his bereaved wife while attempting to reconnect with his teenage son Dylan (Colin Ford) and young daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones).
His is a heartfelt performance that packs a powerful emotional wallop in his understated delivery of a father struggling to do it right by his children- and nowhere is this more evident than in a powerful scene where Benjamin and Dylan address their fractured relationship head-on which is guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes.The conviction that Damon brings to his role is a huge reason why the film achieves its intended poignancy.
He also shares great chemistry with each of his co-stars- whether Scarlett Johannson's perceptive zookeeper Kelly, or Thomas Haden Church's wry older brother Duncan.Both Johannson and Church are also individually outstanding in their supporting roles, alongside other equally incomparable veterans like Angus MacFadyen as the groundskeeper with a longstanding grudge for park inspector Walter Ferris (John Michael Higgins) and Patrick Fugit (who played Crowe's alter ego in 'Almost Famous') as one of the zoo staffers with a capuchin monkey perpetually perched on his shoulders.
It's one of those movies that make anything seem possible, somewhat of an underdog story, the kind that's generally liked, it's a good way for Crowe to tell the world that he's still in the game, without having to alienate his old fans, while embracing some new ones.
The animals in WE BOUGHT A ZOO serve as a way to challenge the humans on their road to healing and triumph.Matt Damon is a fantastic actor because he can be action man in one movie and he can be your next door regular neighbor joe schmoe in another.
Ford and Fanning are actors who are going to rock Hollywood someday, you just wait and see.Some things don't work for me, although I admit Maggie Elizabeth Jones who plays the little daughter Rosie is absolutely adorable, I think the film plays out her cuteness way too often, way too much.
And it's not a Crowe movie without such memorable lines like 'Show me the money' and 'you had me at hello', WE BOUGHT A ZOO has a hopeful message of taking chances and gambling on life through 20 seconds of insane courage, loving people, and adventurous, unadulterated joy.
His 14 year old son Dylan, played by Colin Ford, even looked and acted like a young Matt Damon.
Elle Fanning does a great job as always; Tomas Haden Church plays his perfect role, and Scarlett Johansson levels things out very nicely.If you want a lot of emotion with consistent laughter, We Bought a Zoo is a great Sunday afternoon choice.
Matt Damon stars in a wonderful family film where he plays a widower dad who buys a zoo on life support.
And the responsibility that the Mee family comes to love and rejoice in.Helping Damon out is his staff that includes Scarlett Johansson as the zoo keeper.
At the end of the day, I found myself underwhelmed by We Bought a Zoo. I really wanted to care for it more than I did, but somewhere during the filming of this movie, the emotional response I should have had just got lost by the film makers.
Cameron Crowe's We Bought a Zoo is a harmless movie about some very nice people who, yes, end up buying a zoo when they go looking for a new place to live.
This certainly isn't a bad movie, just a very familiar one.The film is based on the true story of Benjamin Mee (played here by Matt Damon), a single father who is coping with the recent passing of his wife, and having to raise his two children on his own.
I understand what Crowe was going for here - He wanted to make a big-hearted movie about a family's emotional healing after a crisis, and how this family adventure of trying to run the zoo brought them closer together.
We Bought a Zoo. Saw this one in the cinema, after a 6-year hiatus, Cameron Crowe eventually has returned to his director chair (documentaries excluded), but this a cliché ridden family dramedy clearly isn't on a par with his prestige works like ALMOST FAMOUS (2000) or JERRY MAGUIRE (1996), despite being interimittently sparked by a bunch of decent animal cameos.
As oversimplified as most Hollywood production, the film never dare to touch a more fly-on- the-wall level of bona fides, one might take it for granted of the situation like that it is so common for an American single dad with two children to buy a zoo and swiftly tackles with the reconstruction of their home with such great ease and casualness (not to mention the film is based on a true story).The film is generally pleasant but discharges a phony posing all over the places, substantially reaches its summit when a tempestuous row between the bereaved father and son (it seems a weight-gaining Matt Damon hasn't done such strenuous work for ages), to give vent to all the suppressed displeasure accumulated, which is a banal gimmick only viable in the dramatized contrivance.Scarlett Johanssan is clearly under the way of re-washing herself in her unassuming and more down-to-earth role (unexpectedly convincing in it, thanks to the lame kiss between her and Damon, another lame Hollywood trickery) after almost a decade from her breakthrough young leading lady status of GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING (2003) and LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003) and ironically she is still pining for her Oscar-nomination wannabe's entrance, which is quite gloomy for now (the upcoming THE AVENGERS surely cannot be considered seriously).
It's the script that requires many tissues for audience tears and apparently doesn't much care that it ranks as the sappiest film of 2011.Since this year's Zookeeper is also one of the worst of 2011, but not sappiest, it would be difficult not to call a draw with the exception that new zoo owner Benjamin Mee in We Bought is played with some grace by Matt Damon and Zookeeper Kevin James not so much.It's also difficult to believe that fine actress Scarlet Johansson signed up to play Kelly Foster, the manager of the zoo.
O_O Also, I love how the guy buys a zoo because "it makes his very young daughter happy" and conveniently ignores the fact that (1) of course a small child is going to like a zoo, this doesn't mean it's a good idea to buy one, and that (2) his teenage son is NOT happy that his dad's wasting all their money on a run-down zoo out in the middle of nowhere.
It's been that long since Cameron Crowe last did a feature film in Elizabethtown, before taking that long a hiatus and coming back with a bang this year through his documentary Pearl Jam 20 that chronicled the life and times of the Seattle based alternative rock band, and We Bought a Zoo, a family drama filled with all the good themes necessary for a year end celebration.
If you're as big a fan as I am, there's always this feel good factor in his films, together with that whimsical feel and that inevitable touch of romance.You can't help but to feel just how cathartic this film could have been for Crowe himself, who had during this time split from wife and frequent music film collaborator Nancy Wilson, and short of sounding like a cheap tabloid, you can feel every bit of his emotion and state of mind even as we follow single dad Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon), whose wife Katherine (Stephanie Szostak) had already passed away, and now at the crossroads of his life where every turn is a hard decision, especially tasked with raising his kids, moody teenager Dylan (Colin Ford) and the very much younger daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones).
Priding himself to be an adventurer of sorts thanks to his journalistic days at being gung ho and a risk taker to get the story he wants, Benjamin now faces the adventure of his life when an almost impulse decision to buy a zoo for its compound and house to live in, led to an expansion of his family to include zookeeping staff, animal handlers and the animals themselves, thanks to his injection of fresh funds to keep the zoo alive for just a little wild longer.
Between Benjamin and daughter Rosie, Maggie Elizabeth Jones will definitely steal your heart as the adorable young one whose innocence and sprightly nature boosted the first half of the show thanks to her antics and unbelievable ease and naturalness in front of the camera, while the focus between father and son Dylan had the spotlight to resolve in the latter half, with Colin Ford convincing enough for any parent to want to give him a piece of their mind.After a glamorous three film outing as the spy Jason Bourne and not so glamorous ones with characters like in The Informant, Matt Damon puts on a little weight to star as the everyday fatherly figure who at times have absolutely no clue how to connect with his children, while having the zoo face pressures in getting the bills paid on time.
Scarlett Johansson tries hard to deglamorize her sensuousness as the head zookeeper Kelly Foster who slowly develops a liking for Benjamin in part due to his determination in not abandoning the zoo's revival project midway, with the story throwing in a little trivial argument over whether to see off aged old animals humanely, with that theme and plot element of death weighing heavily in Benjamin's inability to let go and coming to terms with his wife's death.Then there's Elle Fanning starring as Lily Miska, who hangs out in the zoo and is involved in the romantic subplot with Dylan Mee, a puppy love if you'd like that that on one hand didn't quite work out its kinks despite the potential of a clash of system values between small town girl and big city boy, but on the other showcases enough of her ability to step out of her famous sister's shadow and stand on her own ground, especially after a fabulous run in Super 8.
If anything, We Bought a Zoo makes you sit up and want to take notice on how Fanning's, Colin Ford's and Maggie Elizabeth Jones' career will continue from this point, having allowed each to shine in their respective roles here.Like all Cameron Crowe films, the strength lies in the characters, and We Own a Zoo is no slouch in that department, even if the pacing of the narrative may seem to puzzle at certain points, and a blip in characterization most noticeable midway where a serious tiff had Benjamin abandoning his children and left to their devices for dinner, which I felt was a major departure from character, even if one may counter argue he knows that Kelly would be around to see to it that the children are well taken care of after all.
Getting along the zoo staff and learning to take care of animals will be an adventurous and refreshing journey for the family.This skillfully realized Hollywood product has all the right ingredients for a decent movie: an ensemble of niceable characters (cute kids & attractive adults), a proved plot style (overcoming a challenge as a team, here, putting the zoo back in shape), a moving topic in background (mourning), and a touch of humor (the villain inspector & the animals).In this time of changes, relationships between people will evolve.
Matt Damon as Benjamin Mee, recent widower, father of 2 kids, 7 yr old Rosie (very cute Maggie Elizabeth Jones) and 14 yr old Dylan (Colin Ford)plays his part very convincingly.
The story (based on fact) is of a recent widower, Benjamin Mee, who sees his two children losing their way after their mother's death, and decides to move them to somewhere new - in this case is a zoo.This is a family movie, albeit that it raises some tough family issues, but kids with a parent to watch it with (and it should be watched as a family) should be OK.With a mixture of pathos and nicely timed comedy this is an absolutely winning film that deserves a wide audience.
We Bought a Zoo is a nice heartwarming family drama starring Matt Damon and directed by Cameron Crowe.
A heartwarming family drama was not something I expected from either Matt Damon or director Cameron Crowe but when I ended up watching this with my movie theatre-working friend today, that's what I got and to tell the truth, I actually liked what I saw.
during the film i kept wishing 'oh i wish this movie didn't finish i wish there is still a long way to go!' thats how amazing it was to me the amazing performances from all the actors made it so touching its a movie where you wont get tired of even though you watch it over and over again i really have interests in movies and i really want to be a movie director when i grow up but people say being a movie director is hard and getting incomes is hard and so i thought about forgetting to achieve this dream but this movie inspired me to continue dreaming to be a movie director we bought a zoo has been the biggest inspiration to me thank you cameron crowe oh and i love colin ford :).
This movie has many heart moments in it that will be sure to touch you.The acting is very well done, which I've come to expect from Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson.
Matt Damon and cast turn in a very good performance in this light, but powerful movie about reestablishing a famous zoo that had been shut done but functioning for the last two years.
is one of the few non-John Hughes films to be awarded "The Brat Pack" stamp, and his drama Almost Famous has garnered a worthy following of the years.Crowe's ambitious style of filmmaking has lead him to pursue family-friendly fare, with We Bought a Zoo, which illustrates the story of Benjamin Mee, played by a superb Matt Damon, a widower who is struggling to keep control of his two children.
They are likable people, who don't feel like they are purposefully trying to bother and annoy us.There's one incredibly charming scene at the very end, that involves Benjamin showing Dylan and Rosie where he met their mother and how twenty seconds of insane courage and embarrassing bravery will most of the time result in something good.
The aggressive older kid (Colin Ford as Dylan) and zookeeper (Scarlett Johansen as Kelly Foster), and her younger cousin (Elle Fanning as Lilly) complete what apparently will be an immediate family, along with some other people, and they try to reopen an animal zoo while trying to save as much money, and while the dad tries to get along as a widower.I'm with poster David Ferguson and others who adore every moment that 7-year old Maggie Elizabeth Jones is on the screen, and unlike some in the responses forum, I enjoy that Elle Fanning and Scarlett Johansen were cast.And the seeming surprise entry in the coffee shop is worth it..
We Bought A Zoo is the touching story about a father Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) and his two children Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) and Dylan (Colin Ford), as they try to move on from the tragic death of their mother.
Kelly's cousin, Lily Miska (played by Elle Fanning) also showed a liking to Dylan Mee and, even threw all his darkness, managed to squeeze sunlight and happiness out of him.Overall, I believe We Bought A Zoo was a great movie that I would love to see again and probably will.