Review #27: We Bought A Zoo

Release Date: December 23, 2011
Writer: Aline Brosh McKenna, Cameron Crowe (Novel by Benjamin Mee)
Director: Cameron Crowe

Logline: Set in Southern California, a father moves his young family to the countryside to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo. (Source: IMDb)
Bechdel Test: Passed all 3 tests

Review

There's a moment in the beginning of this film that my blogess sister Alyssa will agree with me is basically the start of a horror film. The young girl, Rosie, falls in love with the peacocks at the zoo they are visiting (and as the title later spoils, they buy) and begins feeding them. Daddy Damon runs up thinking his kid is lost, and sees her feeding the birds. I cringed so much. Those peacocks might peck out her eyes! Ahh!!!

This is a family movie, so that obviously did not happen. I think we have a healthy appreciation for wild animals and respect their power and privacy.

There's something that actually works about this movie, and that's acknowledging the awkward moments that happen. Unfortunately I think that's what also stops it from being a memorable film as there's no unique twist to undercut those moments. When Benjamin proudly proclaims "We are adventurers!" he gets strange looks and then immediately moves on. Taking away the cheese of making that an authentic statement gives this film a modern feel, but not going the extra mile to give a memorable response is where the film fails.

As the moody, dramatic posters will tell you, this is a more romantic view of working with animals compared to the typical madcap wacky family movie this could easily be. I can't think of another family movie that includes a monkey who doesn't throw poop or intentionally trick the main character into falling on their face. There are consequences to letting snakes out of their box, and that consequence is going around to pick up snakes, not finding one in your bed with a snake like it's a hilarious joke.

Perhaps that's the benefit and downfall of an autobiography. The past is romanticized. The protagonist is without flaw. The motivations of other people are lost. Because that's what people do. When someone is a real person, not a character, and they make an action that you don't understand, there is no going back to strengthen their characterization, that's just life. Sometimes it's nice to see that set in a movie. At other points it becomes tedious.

And now, I would like to have a one on one with Cameron Crowe. Thank you for casting Patrick Fugit again and putting a monkey on his shoulder for the entirety of the film. That boy is just adorable. It would have been nice for him to have some lines, but nbd. One other thing, if your movie is titled We Bought a Zoo don't make the audience wait 20 minutes before you buy a zoo. It's not like those 20 minutes were used to build surprise or intrigue, because we knew it was coming. Thanks buddy!  

Portrayal of Women: I like that Scarlett Johansson's character Kelly is the lead zookeeper. It's nice to see a capable intelligent woman portrayed in a movie, particularly a field that requires a healthy scientific knowledge, and a lot of manual labor. It's nice that she has a purpose in the movie beyond just being the love interest and reward. On the other hand, Kelly's younger cousin Lily has no role in the film other than to be Dylan's love interest. She shows up and makes him good again through movie magic. Besides the young child Rosie, the only other woman in the movie is Carla, who is arbitrarily vindictive and evil trying to turn people against Benjamin for literally no reason whatsoever. What an eyeroll. You win some, you lose some.

Sisterhood Moment: On opening day Kelly gives little Rosie a french braid to go with her new adorable zoo keeper uniform. What a role model.

Rating: 3 tigers and a peacock out of all the Jason Bourne movies.

IMDb - We Bought A Zoo (7.1)
Wikipedia - We Bought A Zoo
Rotten Tomatoes - We Bought A Zoo (66%)