We Bought a Zoo

    We Bought a Zoo
    2011

    Synopsis

    Benjamin has lost his wife and, in a bid to start his life over, purchases a large house that has a zoo – welcome news for his daughter, but his son is not happy about it. The zoo is in need of renovation and Benjamin sets about the work with the head keeper and the rest of the staff, but, the zoo soon runs into financial trouble.

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    Cast

    • Matt DamonBenjamin Mee
    • Scarlett JohanssonKelly Foster
    • Thomas Haden ChurchDuncan Mee
    • Colin FordDylan Mee
    • Maggie Elizabeth JonesRosie Mee
    • Angus MacfadyenPeter MacCready
    • Elle FanningLily Miska
    • Patrick FugitRobin Jones
    • John Michael HigginsWalter Ferris
    • Carla GalloRhonda Blair

    Recommendations

    • 80

      Arizona Republic

      Damon can elevate just about anything in which he appears.
    • 75

      Entertainment Weekly

      The movie is like Doctor Dolittle remade as a therapeutic sudser. By the end, it got to me.
    • 75

      Observer

      We Bought a Zoo has more soul than substance, but I'll be darned if it didn't put a smile on my face and keep it there.
    • 75

      ReelViews

      Heartfelt but safe. The missing element is the edgy irrelevance that elevated Crowe's best directorial efforts - "Say Anything," "Jerry Maguire," and "Almost Famous" - above their generic counterparts.
    • 70

      The Hollywood Reporter

      Arguably the director's least typical film, it doesn't dodge the potholes of earnest sentimentality and at times overplays the whimsy. But the uplifting tale has heart, humanity and a warmly empathetic central performance from Matt Damon.
    • 60

      Village Voice

      The cynics will scoff and dismiss it all as manipulative, the heartstring-tugging machine on hyperdrive. But this movie isn't for them; did you not see the PG? It's a sweet, sincere, utterly affable kids' movie about how parents are all kinds of screwed up and unable to tell their kids what they want or show them how they feel.
    • 60

      Time Out

      Too much of the movie feels predestined - down to the rainstorm on opening day - and subplots involving budding romance end up forcing what's implicit. Crowe, meanwhile, still can't stop abusing his vinyl collection; the aural wallpapering of Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and others will surely please postboomer fans who haven't quite gotten the hang of silence.
    • 50

      Variety

      We Bought a Zoo is an odd bird, warm-blooded but largely lifeless.

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