We Bought a Zoo

I probably tend to be more positive about movies than some reviewers are.  After all, two of the movies I liked in 2011 were on the "Ten Worst Movies" list on Yahoo. earlier this week.  BUT..."We Bought a Zoo" is one of the best movies we've seen in a long time.  (Now I sound like former Vicar Brad..."It was the best...") 

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this movie.  I thought it would be funny.  It was not particularly funny but it was sweet and positive.  I thought that there would be cheap slapstick humor such as was in "Zookeeper" (on Yahoo's worst movie list in 2011) but there was no such thing.  Oh, there was the escape of the dangerous bear but the subsequent encounter and recapture was pretty well done.

OK.  OK.  Get to the movie.  The premise of the movie, based on a true story and what I would call a dramody (comedy/drama), is that widower Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) needs to start over after his wife's recent death and his son's expulsion from school and so buys a dilapidated zoo and its animals and staff and takes on the challenge of reopening it for the public.  Benjamin struggles with his relationship with his 14 year old son, Dylan (Colin Ford), and Dylan's seemingly dark attitude about life as expressed in his art work.  His daughter, 7 year old Rosie, is happy with the zoo and the animals and sometimes is like the "Mommy" to her grieving father who wants to get away from the sad reminders in the city of his deceased wife.  He spends all he has to prepare the zoo and finds himself near bankruptcy but then is blessed with a surprise nest egg that his wife has hidden away to help him.  His brother, Duncan, (Thomas Haden Church) tries to dissuade Benjamin from using the rest of his money to throw at a dream.  Benjamin's innovations with the zoo are apparently in real life, a new wave of zoo engineering, but the movie doesn't focus on that.

Some might suggest that the movie and how it unfolds is predictable but there are some deep emotions in the movie.  The depiction of Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) is wonderful.  Her smile lights up the screen and lights up their lives. Benjamin is torn in his love for his son.  They are alike and that's the problem.  Benjamin loves him and loves and misses his wife dearly.  The movie gives us time to appreciate his mood and moodiness and his joy and sadness about his lost love.  Though Kelly Foster (played by Scarlett Johannson) is his new love life, their guarded relationship is handled tastefully and carefully.  Benjamin challenges his son to consider "20 seconds of insane courage" in telling his new girl friend what he thinks of her.  Later Benjamin explains to his children that this was how he met their mother, Katherine (played by Stephanie Szostak)

It's difficult to explain why this movie was special.  You have to see it to understand.  If you get past the premise and the zoo and even the animals and some of the regular characters, you quickly see that this is not a movie about zoos.  It is a movie about love for spouse, children, parents, co-workers, and love for life and work.  It is on my top ten list of best movies on 2011.