We Bought a Zoo is mercifully low on trite animal comedy, eschewing that sort of insipid animal-drooling-over-you humour, but it does dial up the sentimentality, which, at times, is lazy and shallow, though Matt Damon`s grounded performance as a middle-aged man struggling to deal with the death of his wife somewhat saves the film from devolving into an overwrought mess.
Based on a real-life story, the film revolves around Benjamin Mee (Damon), a widower and father of two. Six months after his wife died of cancer, Benjamin is still struggling to get his life back on track. His difficulties in his workplace eventually impel him to quit his job, and he also has a strained relationship with his morose teenage son, Dylan (Colin Ford), who gets into trouble in school for drawing dark art pieces the kind of which includes monstrous-looking creatures and devilish faces. His younger daughter, Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), is an adorable girl, and Jones plays Rosie with plucky verve and winsome charm, though director Cameron Crowe is less interested in portraying her as a real character than using her as a tool to boost the quirky quotient of the film. She is likeable, no doubt, but eventually as it becomes clear that her one-note character serves no clear narrative purpose in the film, her oddball antics start to come across wan affectations.
Benjamin decides to move out, and buys a zoo, where he meets a bunch of kooky zookeepers, headed by Kelly, played by Scarlett Johansson with a in-your-face, no-nonsense likeability. From there he battles different obstacles in a bid to get the zoo to open in time, aided by a bunch of zookeepers, which includes Lily (Elle Fanning), an ebullient, radiant young girl who becomes Dylan`s love interest and antidote to his depressive ways.
Crowe does try a little hard to be quirky at times, and his indie music inclinations are reflected in the film`s soundtrack, and the ingratiating vibe does get annoying.
There are also plot strands and copious scenes which are absolutely contrived and seem disjointed, such as one involving a quarrel between Benjamin and Kelly, and We Bought a Zoo feels, at times, like a movie of parts rather than a coherent whole, but anchored by Matt Damon`s grounded central performance, those disparate parts eventually come together.
Summary: The film is disjointed and messily plotted, and clichÃ