Films That Thrill: We Bought a Zoo

By Kalie Chamberlain

Our film reviews are written with the understanding that mature, sensible, premium-aged people may not want the bother of searching for excellent, sleaze-free films—that’s why we’ve done the searching for you. We hope you enjoy this pick.

This Month’s Film Selection: We Bought a Zoo

Cast: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church

Director: Cameron Crowe

Running Time: 124 minutes

Rating: PG

We need to start over. That was the thought of Benjamin Mee (Damon), a journalist and recently-widowed father of two young children. After losing the love of his life, he can’t find satisfaction in work. All the places in his town remind him of his wife. His children have problems of their own: his teenage son Dylan has just been expelled from the local high school. Tucking courage into his pockets, Benjamin sets out to find a new home—and a new life.

But the home he falls in love with in rural California comes with … some challenges. The home sits on the property of a dilapidated zoo, Rosemoor Wildlife Park. If Benjamin purchases the property, he becomes the new owner of the zoo, responsible for bringing the zoo up to standard and re-opening it to the public. Benjamin decides to take on a new adventure, and his daughter Rosie pronounces, “We bought a zoo!”

With that, Benjamin and his staff set out on making the zoo ready to reopen. But it isn’t a simple process. Animals need expensive healthcare, the enclosures have to be redesigned and rebuilt, and Benjamin is financially responsible for all of it. Besides, things between him and his son have never been worse. Everyone begins to wonder. Has he taken on too much? Will Benjamin quit? Or will he see this dream through?

Based on the 2008 memoir of the same name, the story of Rosemoor Wildlife Park is inspired by real events at the Dartmoor Zoological Park in Devon, England. The producers of the film capture all the elements of the real Benjamin Mee’s story and bring them to the big screen in a memorable way. The soundtrack by Icelandic artist Jonsi is gorgeous. The zoo animals are majestic characters in their own right. Director Cameron Crowe handles grief and loss in a touching, simple way. And the story has a very happy ending. We Bought a Zoo will make you laugh and make you cry and make you fall in love with animals—and people, too.

You can rent We Bought a Zoo at your local Redbox. Purchase it from a local movie seller or at www.amazon.com.