We Bought a Zoo

A truly satisfying, simple movie about a family, devastated by the loss of their wife/mother and looking for a fresh start, stumble upon... a new home complete with a small, private zoo. The story is very portrayed by Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson with a great supporting cast. Johansson underplays her role as head zoo keeper, staying just a bit in the background and in the process becomes one of the most intriguing characters. Damon is terrific as a thrill seeking reporter who is completely adrift in trying to manage and lead his family while desperately missing his wife. A feel good film based upon a true story. Not a single rough edge here. Just a warm tale for the whole family. Good comfort food for a stormy afternoon.

I love this movie. I've watched it many times. It's a great movie to watch with your kids, a story about a family getting a chance to start over, and a chance to learn about hard work. Some people may consider this movie to be lightweight, but to me it covers some important themes and give some great opportunities for talking with your kids. There was one intense scene toward the end of the movie with the father and the son verbally shouting. This scene made my younger children cry. Watch alongside your kids and it gives you a great opportunity to talk about important things such as conflict, resolution, life, death, and some other serious topics but it doesn't leave you down in the dumps. It has lots of fun moments, plenty of laughs, adorable animals, and to paraphrase the words of the main character in the movie, "It's a good (movie), and it has really cool animals in it."

I watched this film for the first time a few years back and didn't know what type of storyline to expect. I ended up liking it a lot. Watching again years later, I still adore it. It's a fun film about facing the difficulties that life throws at you and starting over. I loved how the family worked and lived on the zoo grounds. I've imagined living and working with zoo animals in past thoughts. I also thought it was cool how people that Benjamin knew and met along the way showed up to the zoo's opening (Mr. Stevens and Eve from Home Depot). Would definitely reccommend and contemplate buying!

Unlike many who wrote reviews, I watched this movie by myself and I loved it. It's charming, unique enough to be interesting, and softly breaks a lot of the cliches you normally see in a movie of this genre while adhering to enough to keep it from just being weird.For those of you looking for stark realism in animal husbandry, this is not your movie. There are moments with the animals that would not occur as-is in real life. However, there are moments that patently would. For those of you who read the book and want a documentary, don't watch this movie. It is LOOSELY based on the experiences of Benjamin Mee. It has the same premise, full stop.However, if you are looking for a heart-warming movie that has enough drama to keep it from being syrupy or campy, this is your movie. I would say it is a good family movie but it depends on your family. If you are looking for strictly no profanity, this isn't your movie. It has some, not a lot, but enough to make it real. This isn't a religious tale. It's about a man looking for a change and willing to put everything on the line to give himself and his family a real change of scenery. The characters are believable enough that you don't have to work hard to suspend your disbelief. My suggestion, don't poke holes. Sit back and enjoy.

A recent widower cannot continue his newspaper job and goes looking for somewhere very different to live. As the title says, he buys a zoo and moves there with his little girl and his troubled early teen son. A staff helps him learn the chores and how much money is required to run a zoo. The actors are realistic, the little girl is adorable, the son finally comes out of his funk, and all ends well. It’s based on a real man and zoo in England.

This is a pretty solid if not fairly predictably uplifting tale of a recently-widowed writer taking a 180 degree turn and buying a zoo. Based on the true story of Benjamin Mee, an English writer who bought an actual zoo in Southwest England, the script pulls all the right punches for delivering an entertaining family drama that has a little something for everyone.From the adorably cute daughter to the grumpy teenage son and the Dad who needs to move on from Mom's death, the script almost writes itself with character arcs all revolving around the family moving to the country side and living with the animals. But it's very well done - an excellent cast holds it together and the dialog is believable enough to keep the audience engaged and routing for the zoo's success. My only question was why the zoo was moved from its real life location in England to a fictional rural area outside Los Angeles - some of the quirky zookeeper characters would probably have worked more effectively if it had stayed in the UK.I've read some comments on both here and IMDB that the profanity is too much much for a family film - personally I didn't think there was anything that was not family oriented but then again I don't have kids! Though there is also a revealing fact about the Easter bunny that you may not want your children to know. Overall, it was much more entertaining than I expected and definitely a little different.

This was a sweet movie. Watching a father struggle with his teenage son is an all-too-familiar battle. But add a slew of other problems and you have a disaster in the making. Matt Damon always delivers a good performance and so does Scarlett Johansen. They have an odd but likable chemistry. Thomas Hayden Church adds in a fun comedic offset. I didn't expect to like it much, but I was really into it. I'd recommend giving it a chance.

I know Matt got a lot ribbing for this movie but I love it. He doesn't always have to the super serious or get em and kill him dude. This was fun, gently uplifting & as animal lover, in my wheel house. I thought everyone in the cast contributed to this film which really impressed me. It is a fun, lighthearted with a serious undertone in the beginning & filter throughout film. I love it.

definitely one of those films that you want to watch on a sunday afternoon. I have seen this a few times now and I absolutely love it. A really heartwarming film with no swearing, no violence and no blood and guts so obviously but todays standards a lot of people would find it boring but i love it. Matt damon is superb and best of all it is a true story and the zoo is still going today.

I had this film recommended to me, and it did not fail to impress. It's a lovely gentle story (very different from your standard Matt Damon type film). Originally went to see it at the cinema with a group of friends, none of whom had heard of the film or really knew what it was about, but all of them came away loving the film and wanting to own a copy.It's a heartbreaking story about a young family who have lost their wife/mother, to decide to start anew by buying a run down zoo (because the little girl fell in love with the house), and it's the story of how the rebuild their lives and the lives of all the people and animal involved in the zoo.Its based on a true story of a zoo in south England, and I own the book (signed by the original Ben), and there's also a tv series thats a documentary showing the real people of the zoo as rebuild it.Be warned, it's very sad, but it's also a really lovely film.

Sometimes, I like to see a film that challenges, maybe needs several watches to get everything that's there. And sometimes I like to see a film that delivers, up front, no effort required on my part, and just makes me feel better about life.And this one fits the second category perfectly. OK, the little girl sometimes runs a dangerous line between delightfully cute and precociously annoying, and Scarlett Johansson can't do dowdy if she tries. But there's a nice interplay between the characters, life lessons are learnt without being shouted out, and throughout the film even when things look like they're going wrong, there's a lovely feelgood atmosphere to the whole piece.Of course you can pick holes in it if you want, but why would you want to? I don't think I'm introducing any plot spoilers (and in case I am, SPOILER ALERT), but this is a film where you're fairly sure after a few minutes that you know where it's going, and that's fine because it's where you want it to go.For sure, the whole thing is served up with many teaspoons of sugar, and I imagine that some may find it a bit too cloying. But if you're an old softie like me, you'll lap it up.I'm sure that this is one of the films that we'll go back to for choice, just when we fancy something to cheer us up. It won't win awards, but this is what I would class as simply a lovely film.

Nice family film, based on a true story - although this has been set in the US, I think the actual story took place in Britain, not sure. I was surprised that the leading lady's acting was so wooden, but in all, it's good family-friendly viewing. Has animals, children, a good-guy, and an easily identifiable bad guy!:) The story centres around the Mee family who, having lost the wife/mother six months previously are not coping well. The son is an angry, anti-social mess and is expelled from school. The father is doing his best but not wanting to move on. Then they move to the "perfect" house - which comes with a failing zoo attached. The film then tells the story of their struggle to get the zoo back to its feet, and ready to open - but it has to get the all important "Certification" from an unfriendly official first.

Based on a true story (from the West Country of the UK I believe) 'We Bought a Zoo' is about a journalist who loses his wife and is in danger of losing his family. His solution is to move home and buy a zoo...of course!It seems far fetched and had this not been based on a true story I might have struggled with the concept however life is often stranger than fiction. The story is good, as are the performances, and the film covers all the emotions of a family in different depths of despair and the logistical aspects of trying to run a Zoo successfully.It's a heartwarming tale that's well acted and a great family film.