WE BOUGHT A ZOO (USA 2011) **
Directed by Cameron Crowe

20th Century Fox must be wishing high for their new Christmas movie WE BOUGHT A ZOO.  Directed by renowned Cameron Crowe (JERRY MAGUIRE, ALMOST FAMOUS) and based on the book of real story of a zoo start-up written by none other than the lead character himself, WE BOUGHT A ZOO is a serious animal film like MARLEY AND ME which made lots of bucks for Fox not many Christmases ago.

Unfortunately, Crowe’s film has an over long stretched out ending (Crowe is not known for short and sharp films – JERRY MAGUIRE ran 139 minutes) and bogged down with clichés.  He ties up two romances and a happy ending with a new obstacle that runs 15 minutes over the time the film should have ended.  Worst still, his film is sappy and full of sentiment, which he had controlled so well throughout the first three quarters of the movie.  So what happened?  Is it pressure from the studio bosses or his attempting too hard to succeed with a formulaic Christmas film?

Recently widowed father, Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) moves his family to the countryside for a fresh start.  With the help of an eclectic staff, and with many misadventures along the way, the family works to return the dilapidated zoo to its former wonder and glory.  His son, Dylan (Colin Ford) feels neglected and misses his friends while younger sister, Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) is enjoying all the animals.  For the zoo to be re-opened, it has to meet all the inspection requirements.  Walter Ferris (John Michael Higgins) is not your friendliest inspector.  The subplots involve two romances, one between father and zoo-assistant, Kelly (a really radian and beautiful Scarlett Johansson) and the son with her daughter, Lily (Elle Fanning), both of which are rather boring to sit through. 

The main plot of getting the animals into shape is the most interesting portion of the film.  Credit is given for the likely difficult filming of the animal scenes, like the escaped bear sequence and the hatching of the baby peacocks/peahens.

The film starts off with a voiceover from Rosie and a view from her perspective.  But this point of view changes midway through the film with the film feeling disjointed as a result.  Crowe holds back on the soft spots - the tear that can be seen from Dylan’s eye or Rosie contributing a buck fifty to the zoo repairs being the only ones throughout the first three quarters of the film.  After that, it seems he is catering the film to those who cry during TV commercials.

Cameron Crowe is in desperate need of a hit and WE BOUGHT A ZOO is not it.  The film might make the bucks at the box-office as there is quite a number out there who do cry during sappy commercials, especially those that ask for donations during the yuletide season.  The zoo that the book and film is based on is doing well and maybe the film will too.