Really bad Photoshop...
The other day I was home sick from work and decided that I needed a light hearted movie to watch. That movie happened to be “We Bought a Zoo” with Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson. When this movie was being advertised in the theaters, I knew that I wanted to see it, but I couldn’t convince my friends to see a movie with a title about buying a zoo. Well, friends… you have missed out. I loved this film.
This movie really hit home because I felt like I could connect with the kids in the film. The film centers around a family – a father, a son and a cute little daughter. The wife/mother passed away about 6 months before the movie opened and therefore this newly-structured family was working out new ways to operate and, basically, survive without the mother. Matt Damon plays a father who feels like he should be able to do it all, but cannot seem to move on in life without his wife there. Every where he goes, he has some memory of his wife that prevents him from moving forward or even entering different establishments. They decide they need a change and start to search for houses. This leads them to find an older home outside of the city (the Target is 9 miles away). But once they fall in love, they find out this house is on a zoo. A dilapidated zoo in need of some tender loving care.
Matt Damon’s character decides to put all of his inheritance and saved money into fixing up the zoo to open in the summer. Through the help of the local workers who look after the animals and land they work to make this a reality.
The true story is in the relationship between Damon and the kids. Having lost my mother when I was younger, I couldn’t help but see some similarities between Damon and my father. There is one father/son blow out that really had me going, but I won’t divulge too much.
If you need a nice, feel-good family movie, I certainly recommend that you check out “We Bought a Zoo”.
