We Bought A Zoo (PG)

Cameron Crowe is best known for directing coming-of-age stories and seize-the-day catharses. He has created iconic characters, such as William Miller (Patrick Fugit) in 2000’s “Almost Famous” and the Sports Agent (Tom Cruise) who has a moral crisis in 2001’s “Jerry Macguire.” In fact, a scene in the trailer for his latest effort, “We Bought a Zoo,” involving a man quitting his job, smacked so heavily of a similar scene in “Macguire” that I imagined the movie to be a throw-a-way, and something to be avoided completely. However, “We Bought a Zoo,” sappy at times, and definitely a Crowe endeavor, has a great deal of heart and reward to offer for those willing to follow it through to the end.

The movie stars Matt Damon as Benjamin Mee, a widower raising two kids by himself after his wife’s death 6 months ago. He cooks, he cleans, he manages. But there is trouble brewing. A series of mishaps at his son Dylan’s school lead to his expulsion and Benjamin uses the opportunity to move his family to a new location, attempting to start over. However, the strain between father and son, and Mee’s inexperience at single-parenthood makes for less than a smooth transition.

The movie gets its title – and it’s plot – when Benjamin finds the perfect house while searching for a new home, which incidentally happens to house a zoo, complete with 50 species of animals. However, it’s currently closed, as a lack of financing and failed inspections have prevented its reopening. Against objections from Dylan and Benjamin’s philosophical yet cautious brother Duncan (Thomas Haden Church, “Sideways”), he purchases the house and decides to renovate and reopen the zoo.

The plot of “We Bought a Zoo” is fraught with disbelief. Mee, who quits his job as a journalist and lives off of an inheritance from his parents, certainly knows nothing about opening a zoo, and even less about raising a family. In fact, he is repeatedly called on this by Head Zookeeper Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson, “The Avengers”). Some of these scenes are comical, such as when Mee is attacked by a crazed porcupine, but others are solemn, such as his inability to put a dying animal to sleep. However incredible, these scenes help add a drama to the movie that is not wholly inappropriate.  The movie tries. But, however hard it tries, realism is not its strong suit.

The strengths of the movie lie in its human element, and the connection the characters forge throughout. There’s Robin Jones (Patrick Fugit, “Almost Famous”) and Peter MacCready, loveable zookeepers who fight against the antagonist codes officer Michael Ferris. There’s Rosie Mee, Benjamin’s young daughter who is absolutely enamored with animals and the idea of owning a zoo. There’s Lily (Elle Fanning, “Super 8”) a 13-year-old zoo helper who develops a crush on Dylan, though he would be the last one to know. And there’s Duncan, Bejamin’s reluctant side-kick, who’s cautious way of life urges him to abandon the zoo at several times during the movie. However, his sentimentality fights against his caution. It is Duncan who comes through when needed, and it is Duncan who as a child gave Benjamin the advice that Ben then passes down to Dylan after a miscommunication over his feelings for Lily. “Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage, and I promise you, great things will come of it.” It’s been a practice that has gotten Benjamin through the last 20 years of his life.

“We Bought a Zoo” is also a bit overly dramatic, including a wrought-with-suspense inspection of the zoo as it nears opening day that almost pushes the envelope a little too far. But for some reason it works. The film isn’t about a zoo, it’s about new beginnings, and Matt Damon does a good job at showing us a character that is hopeful yet cautious, and one who isn’t afraid to make a few mistakes along the way. There’s no trace of Jason Bourne in Benjamin Mee, and it was a surprising role to see him in, given that a movie hasn’t really tested his acting ability as well as “Good Will Hunting,” had in some time, and that was in 1997.

Surprisingly, however, my two favorite performances in the movie came from Scarlett Johannason and Colin Ford, who plays his son Dylan. Johannson pulls off the dedicated Zookeeper well. And even though the movie requires there to be some subtle romantic chemistry between her and Damon, she plays it so understatedly (especially given her acrobatic and saucy performance in the recent “The Avengers”) that I forgot I was watching her act. Likewise, Ford, as Mee’s estranged son puts so much emotion and care into his character, that it’s guaranteed that he will be a terrific actor some day. The most emotional scene in the movie involves a fight between him and his father. Both parties exhibit wonderful emotive acting – and the scene plays all the more real because the script allows them to be human beings and not pieces in a character play that must end in a predictable way.

Likewise, the ending of the movie, though predictable, brings the events to a close in a soft, sweet way that will make you happy you stuck with it for the conclusion.

While somewhat sappy, “We Bought a Zoo” has something special to it. It is Cameron Crowe with improved scriptwriting and less obvious sentiments. As good a movie as “Jerry Macguire” was, the dialogue was over-the-top, too often aware that it must be cute, purposeful, and charming. As a result key scenes, foremost Cruise and Zellweger’s iconic “You complete me” makeup scene, felt forced, and took away from the emotion the movie came so close to bringing to the table.  “We Bought a Zoo” teeters on this brink several times, but thankfully never falls into the abyss.

– by Mark Ziobro