Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) was a successful newspaper writer covering all sorts of adventures around the world, but little did he know that his greatest adventure was lurking just around the corner of his life. With the untimely passing of his lovely wife, Katherine, he is forced to re-evaluate his life. His 14 year old son Dylan (Colin Ford) is having trouble at school, while Mee feels his job is becoming stagnant. He quits his job and decides to move the kids to someplace more tranquil.
With the help of wacky real estate agent Mr. Stevens (J.B. Smoove, The Sitter), they find what appears to be the perfect place - lots of acreage and a beautiful house with tons of character. Oh, and there's also a zoo on the property, and when young daughter, Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) falls in love with the animals, the deal is done. Mee jumps in with both feet, despite the advice of his older brother, Duncan (Thomas Hayden Church), but he never anticipated the hard work and resources that would be required to make it work.
Dylan has a really hard time adjusting to country life, but zookeeper Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson) has a pretty young niece named Lily (Elle Fanning) who lives on the property and takes an immediate shine to Dylan, although she is very socially awkward. The rest of this motley crew includes Peter MacCready (Angus MacFayden), his sidekick, Robin (Patrick Fugit), plus contrary bookkeeper Rhonda (Carla Gallo), and a handful of other misfits. The family and the staff decide to get the zoo up and running by the summer, but the zoo has to pass muster with Walter Ferris (John Michael Higgins), an incorrigible inspector who has a personal beef with MacCready and a thing for lovely zookeeper Kelly. Can they pull it off in time?
We Bought a Zoo is a charming, family-friendly film about overcoming insurmountable odds when life throws everything at you. Matt Damon has certainly evolved and this role places him in a very different space than his role as action star Jason Bourne. I really enjoyed him as Benjamin Mee and thought he did an outstanding job. Scarlett Johansson worked well as Kelly Foster, but my hands-down favorite actor in the film was Maggie Jones as Rosie. She absolutely steals every scene she's in and is just adorable. Angus Macfayden and Patrick Fugit were also lots of fun to watch. Actually, I loved the whole cast, now that I reflect back on it. There's such an eclectic mix of people in the group and they are all great and unique in their own ways.
There are lots of special features including 20 deleted and extended scenes, commentary, a gag reel, an extensive behind-the-scenes look that clocks in at over an hour, plus featurettes on Benjamin Mee himself, the musical score, a still picture gallery and both DVD and digital copies of the film as well. There's even a family-friendly audio track, although there weren't more than a handful of curse words in the whole film.
Overall, We Bought a Zoo is a very sweet film that the whole family will enjoy. It's touching, heartwarming and pleasant all around. While it doesn't pack the punch of some movies, it delivers a very sweet and special message through a delightful cast. Recommended.
