Coping with death of his wife and its effect on his teenage son and precocious seven year old daughter, adventurist/journalist Benjamin Mee took the highly unconventional step of buying a run-down animal park teetering on the brink of failure. The movie based on his book, "We Bought a Zoo," is warm, good-humored, and enjoyable. Matt Damon as Mee is completely believable, as is, almost unbelievably, Scarlett Johansson as the zookeeper he inherits. There is the expected conflict with his son, his doubting brother the accountant (a grounded Thomas Hayden Church), and the exacting state inspector (a suitably supercilious John Michael Higgins). The twin challenges of dealing with great loss and dealing with a teenager are well handled for a PG movie, and the couple of weepy scenes are well earned. I thought it was fine.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
We Bought a Zoo ***
Coping with death of his wife and its effect on his teenage son and precocious seven year old daughter, adventurist/journalist Benjamin Mee took the highly unconventional step of buying a run-down animal park teetering on the brink of failure. The movie based on his book, "We Bought a Zoo," is warm, good-humored, and enjoyable. Matt Damon as Mee is completely believable, as is, almost unbelievably, Scarlett Johansson as the zookeeper he inherits. There is the expected conflict with his son, his doubting brother the accountant (a grounded Thomas Hayden Church), and the exacting state inspector (a suitably supercilious John Michael Higgins). The twin challenges of dealing with great loss and dealing with a teenager are well handled for a PG movie, and the couple of weepy scenes are well earned. I thought it was fine.
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