Perhaps my low-to-no expectations influenced what I’m about to write here. Or, perhaps Cameron Crowe’s characteristically solid soundtrack brought me to a nostalgic familiar place. Regardless, We Bought a Zoo was pretty good. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a surprise to see those words transfer from my brain to the page, but it’s true: it’s pretty good.
The story itself is familiar: the unexpected death of a spouse leaves the remaining parent and children in emotional upheaval. Here, the father, Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) is a thrill-seeking reporter who has always put fiscal responsibility third behind his family and adventure – not always necessarily in that order. Therefore when his wife passes, Mee is forced to account for all three at once and put what’s best for his family first. The problem is that what he feels is best for his family might not actually make them – in particular his son – happy.
Dylan Mee (Colin Ford), his son, is already a teenager stuck in the familiar emo realm: he is an artist with a penchant for sketching skulls, decapitations, engulfing flames, and the stuff of grisly, ironic tattoos. He’s also been expelled from his high school after his fourth strike. This only encourages Benjamin’s need to change his environment and leave behind all that is familiar in a rash attempt at closure that more closely resembles denial.
As the title suggests, their place of respite is in fact, a zoo – one that is underfunded, dilapidated, and near closure because it falls well short of nearly all codes established by the D.E.C., which are ruthlessly enforced by Walter Ferris (John Michael Higgins). Here, Ferris because the de facto villain because he does his job well and threatens to close down a business that is unsafe for paying customers, the employees, and the animals. This feels like a common case of the mistaken villain. Sure, Ferris might close the potential zoo, but wouldn’t it be worse for the owners if a visitor was devoured by a lion? Similar villains are created in Vanilla Sky, another film by Cameron Crowe. There, the board members that have a 49% stake in David Aames’ (Tom Cruise) publishing company are referred to as the Seven Dwarves and are painted as desperate to wrest control from the irresponsible, philandering, insouciant Aames, who inherited control of the company upon his father’s death. Frankly, if I were one of the Dwarves, I would worry about the fate of the company as well, but every film needs an antagonist.
But, back to the zoo: here, teamwork and the merit of hard work and responsibility are hoisted onto Benjamin’s shoulders. The ups and downs with his son are alleviated; is wife’s death is accepted as he relinquishes control over that which in imminent. Plus, a new love affair is portended when he and the cute – and apparently rather shut-in — Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson) exchange meaningful conversation, flirty touches, and an inevitable kiss to celebrate the successful re-opening of the zoo.
And, I think this connection is what made the film pretty good. They share a kiss, but it is cut short in a believable way. Benjamin doesn’t recoil with disgust as the eight-month widow and claim undying love for his deceased wife. Instead, there’s a mutual attraction and recognition that this could work, but maybe not right now. Both Kelly and Benjamin know he’s recently lost a wife, and both know that he has some work to do to find closure. There is no automatic proposal at the end. Instead, Mee takes his children to the place where he and his wife first met. In part, this is a bit cloying and I have a hard time believing that his rather callow pickup line would work, but if people can find love in Second Life, who am I to judge? At the same time, it’s a step into his role as a widow. In the beginning of the film, he absconds to avoid being reminded of his wife, burying her deep in his memory, and, in effect, creating an existence without her. In the end, he acknowledges the love, the loss, and the past, opening the door for a happy ending.
Overall, We Bought a Zoo reminds me of War Horse. There are many moments: funny, sentimental, sweet, endearing, tear jerking. And, at the end of both, I didn’t regret the time I spent watching. Both were pretty good.
