‘You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage…’
Sometimes, a film can be so bad that it torpedoes a filmmaker’s career. Elizabethtown, Cameron Crowe’s sixth film and an unmitigated disaster, turned the tide of public opinion against Crowe so comprehensively that it’s debatable whether his reputation will ever recover. As a result, We Bought a Zoo, a perfectly acceptable feel-good movie, was never really given a fair shake…
Following the death of his wife, Ben Mee (Matt Damon)… buys a zoo. Upon arrival, he is no doubt delighted to find that the head zookeeper is actual Scarlett Johansson. The supporting cast boasts Thomas Haden Church, Patrick Fugit and Elle Fanning (as well as a bunch of trained and adorable animals).
Despite being a huge box office success ($120 million of a $50 million budget), We Bought a Zoo has become something of a punchline, partly because of the Elizabethtown situation and partly because critics hate anything sentimental. Yes, the plot is formulaic and predictable, but it doesn’t matter because Damon’s central performance is utterly irresistible and the supporting cast totally commit alongside him. While it’s obviously not as good as Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire or Vanilla Sky, it’s still a heartwarming and inspirational slice of escapism that should be applauded for being so nakedly uplifting. We don’t have to be miserable and cynical all the time. Matt Damon bought a zoo, and he hangs out with bears and lions, and Scarlett Johansson and the scenes he shares with Haden Church are great, and the soundtrack is good (like all Crowe films) and it’s generally just a good time at the movies.
Not to be hyperbolic but if you don’t like We Bought a Zoo, you don’t like life. Give yourself up to it, meet the film on its own terms and you won’t regret it. A deeply lovely film.
