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%)

Review #19: What's Your Number?

Release Date: September 30th, 2011
Writer: Gabrielle Allan, Jennifer Crittenden
Director: Mark Mylod

Logline: A woman looks back at the past twenty men she's had relationships with in her life and wonders if one of them might be her one true love. (Source IMDb)
Romantic Comedy, 106 min.
Bechdel Test: Passed all three tests.

Review

I actually kind of like this movie. What's Your Number? is a romantic comedy about a woman, Ally, who tries to track down all her previous romantic partners to avoiding raising her "number".

One of the biggest failings of RomComs in recent years, is that they have to be bland to be relatable, and if the lead is female then she needs to take everything in her life super seriously. The saving grace here is that Anna Faris is such a talented comedian that she makes everything funnier and genuine. She's an actress who isn't afraid of finding the faults in a character and exploiting them for comedy.

The very important topic being tackled by this movie is how many sexual partners is too many? Ok, it doesn't actually discuss the topic in any critical or serious way, but it does present a good role model. There seems to be an intention of expressing that it doesn't matter how many sexual partners a man or a woman has had, that it doesn't imply something about their morals or characters it's just how people live their life. The conflict comes from the fact that Ally feels overwhelming social pressure, particularly from her girlfriends and family, to settle down and change her ways. There are some conflicting messages here, because the driving force in this movie is that she gets slut-shamed, and when (obvious spoiler) she settles down at the end it's to be with one person monogamously. The intention, I think, was meant to be more progressive and liberating. Ally is not troubled, or full of regret. She seems to have the same frustrations with relationships that we all have. Colin the "decent guy" says no one should care what someones "number" is, and that's the message they are trying to push. Sometimes it's like movies are made to be entertaining and fun and not to teach america a lesson about their judgements of women in society.

Lets go back to me liking this film. One of my favorite parts about What's Your Number? is the terrific cast. Chris Evans gets to flex his acting muscles instead of just his muscles muscles. I mean, he doesn't exactly throw down like Daniel Day Lewis, but he isn't the stiff bore that his role could easily be interpreted as. Okay, it's not a great acting job but boy is he handsome. Joel McHale is a douchebag, and show's off his butt. Everyone loves butts. Ari Graynor is super underrated. Eliza Coupe has some great lines. Cue the "awws" because this is role #2 for Anna Faris and her husband Chris Pratt. I am particularly fond of the endless number of cameo's by fantastic actors playing Ally's former lovers.

For all the ditzy dumb moments, I really love this movie. There's family and friends, there's drama, there's super sweet fantasy dates, it's a nice piece of feel good fluff. Sure, it might be predictable, and desperate for jokes, and probably should have been edited down, but this is a nice little romance film. There is something endearing about the vulnerability of friendship as opposed to just dating all the time. Instead of going to fancy restaurants, Ally and Colin visit the local Deli. Plus, you know you want to watch a movie that uses "He recognized my vagina!" as a major plot point.

Portrayal of Women: There was a good range of Ally being laid back, her sister being uptight, their friends being a good variety of women. The biggest eyeroll I think I've ever experienced when watching a movie, however occurs when Ally tries to google her ex's. In a montage. With upbeat pop music. While she speaks out loud, drinking wine. Apparently she's also never used a computer before! Teehee. EDIT THIS SHIT OUT, MOVIES. GOD. Girls can use computers, and we stalk all our ex's so don't pretend that its some revelation.

Sisterhood Moment: A few years later, Kristen Wiig stole the opening scene of What's Your Number? for the opening scene in Bridesmaids. In both, our leading lady is sleeping with a douchebag, and they sneak out of bed in the morning to put on makeup. They are both an inspiration to us all.

Rating: All of Chris Evans arm muscles. All of them. Sigh.

IMDb - What's Your Number (6.0)
Wikipedia - What's Your Number
Rotten Tomatoes - What's Your Number (23%)