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When Oscar-winning writer/director Cameron Crowe releases a new movie, audiences know that it’s generally pretty safe to expect plenty of humor, a healthy dose of heart, and a charming cast. And though you may not find anything as memorable as the boom box scene from Say Anything… or lines like Jerry Maguire’s “You had me at ‘hello,’” in his latest drama, We Bought a Zoo, you’ll still walk away with plenty of Crowe’s trademark warm-fuzzies.
Matt Damon stars as Benjamin Mee, a recently-widowed journalist and father of two. Benjamin has spent his adult life in search of the next big adventure, so when the writing jobs start to dry up and his brooding teen son, Dylan (Colin Ford), is expelled from school, he decides that it’s time to try something new.
The Mee family’s latest adventure comes in the form of an old house in the country, located several miles (and a whole world) away from their home in Los Angeles. The old farm house sits on 18 acres of land, which just happens to include a rundown zoo that’s desperately in need of renovation.
Benjamin and his seven-year-old daughter, Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), are eager to help the zoo’s small, eccentric staff get the place up and running again—and they immediately focus their time, energy, and funds on the project. But the move causes Dylan to lash out even more.
We Bought a Zoo is a sweet and lovable feel-good drama, written with just the right mix of tear-jerking drama, easy-going laughs, and romance. It’s predictable and folksy—and the pacing is a bit on the slow side—but its warmth and charm will easily win you over. The cast and their characters, after all, couldn’t be much more endearing—from unbearably adorable little Maggie Elizabeth Jones as the precocious Rosie and Elle Fanning as Lily, the irresistibly upbeat teen who helps to brighten Dylan’s mood to Damon as the widowed father who’s trying to be there for his family while mourning the love of his life.
Still, We Bought a Zoo doesn’t have the same personality of some of Crowe’s earlier films. While the characters are cute, they’re simply not unforgettable. The zoo’s staff members, with all of their quirks, don’t get many opportunities to shine. The zoo’s animals—like Buster the depressive bear—don’t get as much attention as you may expect. And even Rosie is kept to a minimum. Instead, when it comes to characters, the focus remains on the moodier ones: the mourning widower and his brooding teen son. Of course, that makes the expected reconciliation satisfying, but it makes the film a little less fun than it could have been.
While it may not be another Say Anything… or Almost Famous, though, We Bought a Zoo is still a sweet, family-friendly drama. Its likable characters, its gorgeous animals, and its feel-good story may not have you packing your bags and buying a zoo of your own, but they’ll most likely inspire you to plan a family trip to visit the animals at someone else’s zoo.
Blu-ray Review:
The charm of Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo comes through even more throughout the film’s loaded Blu-ray release. The special features menu comes with more than two hours of extras, including 20 extended/deleted scenes (more than 30 minutes’ worth!). You’ll find a few awkward scenes in the mix, but you’ll also find some cute moments with both the people and the animals. There’s also a surprisingly lengthy gag reel, a commentary with Crowe, editor Mark Livolsi, and actor JB Smoove (who was brought in for comic relief), and some other random extras like Their Happy Is Too Loud, featuring composer Jónsi’s score.
The disc also includes a couple of in-depth behind-the-scenes features. The Real Mee is a half-hour feature that travels to the UK to visit the real Benjamin Mee at his family’s zoo. You’ll notice plenty of differences in the film (no Kelly…no moody teenage son), but it’s a fascinating real-life companion to the movie. We Shot a Zoo is a five-part making-of feature—more than an hour in length—that takes a look at every aspect of the film, starting with a visit to the real Benjamin Mee in 2006 and following the journey through scouting, rehearsals, filming, and more.
If you want to explore We Bought a Zoo in more depth, you’ll definitely have to commit to it—because the extras are all pretty time-consuming. But, if you’re willing, I recommend starting with The Real Mee for a look at the story behind the story.
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