Movie Review #1 - "We Bought A Zoo"

On IMDB: We Bought A Zoo (on IMDB)

Benny's Rating : 6  / 10 Tabasco Peppers 

Your first question is "Why the heck did he start with this movie?"

Believe it or not, I spent 30 minutes trying to figure out what the ideal movie was going to be first my very first review ... Well ... After tossing between one of my favorite movies, "Caddyshack" and one of the worst, "Xanadu" ... I just grabbed out of the pile of DVDs and grabbed this movie ...

On to the review:

The STORY:  A married man loses his wife to cancer and has to take care of his two children.  He's an adrenaline junkie journalist that seems out of touch with the real world.

The story starts like a typical cliche with the father (Damon) as a depressed man trying to figure out what to do with the kids.  He's overly protective of his daughter, but lacks the same focus with the older son.

The daughter, Rosie, played by Maggie Elizabeth Jones, does a remarkable job just by being adorable.  She, at times, takes on the "Mother Hen" role of the family.

The story takes the first turning point with the son being depressed and causing mischief in school, the daughter frightened of the neighbor's loud parties.

So, they decide to move to a quieter setting.  The Real Estate Agent, played by J.B. Smoove, is one of the highlights of the film.  I wish that they would have given him a bigger part in the film.

So ... They bought a zoo ... Yawn ... I had to watch the movie twice just to get a feeling of the characters.  This is the part of the movie that basically became flat and one-dimensional with the characters.

Enter the Zookeeper, played by Scarlett Johannsen.  She holds her own in the film but the lines were too predictable and unfortunately, the love interest was not particularly engaging.

Long story short because I lost interest in the "making the zoo open to the public" was fairly uneventful.  If I wanted to watch people build and work, I would have watch "Mike Holmes" on HGTV.

CAST:  
Let me begin by saying, I truly appreciate Matt Damon's acting ...  However, this is NOT an Academy Award performance.  One thing that is really starting to annoy me about Matt Damon is that he doesn't seem to laugh much.  Not just this film, but most of his work.

Maggie Elizabeth Jones stole my heart.  She plays the young daughter.  Her smile just warms your heart ...

Scarlett Johannsen.  Easy on the eyes, but definitely "Called this one in" ... The acting was weak and  the lines were pretty lame.

LINES WORTH REPEATING:

Matt's character (Benjamin Mee ... very forgettable name) ... takes the son and daughter to school ... When the son, (don't even remember his name --- the forgettable name) says "Whatever" to Matt's character ... Here comes the mini-monologue for Benjamin on the word, "Whatever" ...

"Whatever is over" ... in reference to the current generation's overuse of the word ...

The only other line that was worth repeating was Benjamin Mee stating that "it only takes 20 seconds of courage" to accomplish anything ... It's a good line ... However, not emphasized enough to carry a cohesive tone in the movie.

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
So-so ... Nothing great ... I did like the use of somewhat natural light.

Overall Recommendation:
It's a wholesome family movie that everyone will enjoy.  Will you watch it twice?  Probably not.  If you want to check it out, it's available on Amazon to purchase (no rent option) ...

We Bought A Zoo - On Amazon

It's $9.99 ... I wouldn't pay that much ... Check the public library ... They might have it ...