We Bought a Zoo

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We Bought a Zoo is about a recent widower with two children who wants to start over so he finds a house out in the country that happens to be connected to a zoo. It then turns into a guy with no experience trying to run a zoo while still mourning his dead wife. It sounds ludicrous, so it has to be based on a true story or no one would believe it. Amy and I went to see it for our Snazzle Review. Then we got together to discuss what we thought about it. Warning, we do discuss some plot points so if you don’t want things spoiled, you might want to skip it.

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Coni: Are you ready to discuss the movie?

Amy: Answer 1 – No, there was not enough screen time for the otters.

Coni: I did think about you when I saw the otters!

Amy:  Answer 2 – Yes, those were Asian small clawed otters.

Coni: The little girl did start asking about the otters so they should have been around more. I am guessing you watched the trailer before you saw the movie, right?  I knew about the movie but didn’t watch the trailer until right before I saw it.

Amy: I believe I had seen a commercial on TV so like a 30 second trailer.

Coni:  I almost didn’t want to watch the movie after seeing the trailer. With the sappy voice over and music trying to pull at the heart strings, it made me roll my eyes. I was quite happy that the movie itself was not so cheesy.  I was confused how the director of Say Anything would be so damn cheesy. He usually has a good grasp of reality with relationships in movies.

Amy:  Yes, while it was a feel good story, it was not super sappy and cheesy.

Coni: I did enjoy some of his music picks as background music and I imagine he had a say in the music choices. Did you know he used to write for Rolling Stone?

Amy:  I did not. I didn’t even know it was the same director as Say Anything.

Coni: I remembered he wrote for Rolling Stone when I heard the music. Also, I recognized about half way through the movie that the guy with the monkey on his shoulder was the main character in Almost Famous, also directed by Cameron Crowe.

Amy: I did like the music and I think I read something about it in Entertainment Weekly, like it was by a Scandinavian guy names Jonsi! But fact check that.

Coni: I’m sure you hated the monkey guy.

Amy:  I did. I was glad they didn’t focus too much on that monkey.

Coni: Besides the monkey, that guy played the kid reporter in Almost Famous which is based on Cameron Crowe’s own life of joining Rolling Stone when he was a teenager.

Amy: Mom kept saying stuff like, “Next is the monkey time!”

Coni: Oh yes, you went with your mom. What did she think?

Amy: She thought it was good. She felt that Matt Damon would have looked better in less feminine eyeglasses.

Coni: I don’t think I noticed his eyeglasses. I did like the conversation between Benjamin and Kelly about the hat.

Amy: That was pretty funny. When she asked how he decided to wear it, I was thinking the same thing!

Coni: I liked cute little scenes like that.

Amy:  Me too. I felt there were a lot of good scenes like that.

Coni:  I also enjoyed that he didn’t just fall all over Scarlett’s character but really loved his wife and mourned her throughout the movie.

Amy: Yes, I felt that he really kept the relationship alive in the movie, even though you really only get a glimpse of her. I also liked it when McCready said, “I’m full of Scotch and bitterness!”

Coni: That was hilarious. Even though I don’t know why the lion didn’t eat McCready, I still really liked the scene and the Scotch line.

Amy: The lion preferred vodka filled nomz?

Coni: I also liked it when I really thought that this outsider guy was going to get the sick tiger to get off the rock and get better, but they kept it grounded and made him finally let him go. Which was sad, but not too sad.

Amy:  True, they handled that very well, even though I was so sad for Spar that he didn’t get to see his fans on opening day.

Coni: One thing I thought was missing is we didn’t get to see the bear’s new enclosure when they were done! They kept saying they were building it and showed them making it, but no finished product. It was like they forgot! Did someone edit that scene out?

Amy:  Maybe! Or maybe the bear ate someone, so then no one wanted to film his happy expansion dance.

Coni: I am now picturing the bear’s happy expansion dance after eating someone.

Amy: He was very dramatic when he slapped the gun out of Benjamin’s hand!

Coni: He was! That was another good scene that I totally expected the bear to just hug him which a cheesy movie would have done.

Amy: Oh mom was also curious about how close to the real life story this was and if the movie coming out made more people go to the zoo that the story is based on.

Coni: I wondered that too! Let’s Google. Also, I can’t believe the guy’s name was Mee. I kept thinking I was hearing it wrong.

Amy: In my head, it was Weeeeeeeeeeee!

Coni: Okay, what I have found online is that he was lucky to get Matt Damon to play him.

Amy: Also, I want to know who the mean bookkeeper played by Daisy from Bones was based on because I sensed a bit of payback in how she was portrayed in the movie!

Coni: Yes! I wondered that too since she was just in the background of the movie, then there was that one random meeting where she fired everyone up before leaving. I really thought she was super perky and annoying delivering the bills to him. I didn’t think she was getting upset about the lack of money until that meeting.

Amy: That’s why I felt there was a lot to that story or maybe she was a combo of haters/doubters?

Coni: Maybe! They did say a lot of people left, so maybe they rolled up some of them into her character.

Amy: Also, I kept seeing someone who kinda of looked like her at the end so was she really fired and gone or forgiven?

Coni:  Yes, I saw the one random girl. I thought it was her with a new haircut, but she was just a random girl.

Amy: Well the real life zoo is in England, so it is hard to say if I shall ever visit it.

Coni: Let’s go and say, “We are here for the zoo!”

Amy: And then have tea! OMG, do they have tea at the zoo?!?

Coni: It’s England. I think it is the law to have tea everywhere.

Amy: I agree that is the law!

Coni: I thought they did a good job casting the kids in the movie since I didn’t find them annoying at all.

Amy: Agree. The kids were great.

Coni: Also, I think it is unfair that Scarlett can look so good with no makeup on.

Amy: Agree. At least she doesn’t send us texts with pictures showing how pretty she is every day. I appreciate her restraint.

Coni: In the real life story, he moved from France to England with his kids, wife and mother. His wife had brain cancer already and died soon after they moved there. They also had an escape-prone jaguar. They should have had that animal in the movie. Scarlett’s character was based on three people all rolled into one character but the real Mr. Mee never had a relationship with any of them. Sounds like the zoo is still struggling so he hopes the movie will entice more people to show up. There is nothing about the accountant lady.

Amy: I hope people show up to the zoo. I want it to be awesome! This zoo has a good layout. Cheetahs next to otters so I’ll just stay there.

Coni: Back to the movie! I even enjoyed the teenagers being clueless and dorky with each other. I found it cute.

Amy: The girl was a little weird to me at first, but then I realized she was home schooled and grew up in a weird environment. It was nice to see her be a nice person and have real feelings instead of being all crazy fake mall teen.

Coni: I thought the same, so I think it helped when Kelly explained later that she was really naïve and innocent. She probably wasn’t self-conscious around boys since she didn’t see others doing that. I also thought Matt Damon did a good job. He was really believable as a fun guy who screwed up while missing his wife and ignoring his son when he shouldn’t because he doesn’t know how to talk to him. He did know how to talk to his daughter just fine.

Amy: Yes, I thought he did a great job of not making it all easy. I liked the 20 seconds of courage idea that it was his brother who had taught him that. I loved the brother character.

Coni:  Yes, that was some good advice. At first, I thought the brother character was unnecessary but I liked him halfway through the movie. After he came back with him at the zoo with the extra money, I liked him better.

Amy: Yeah, that made me a little anxious. I was like OMG, what if the girl hadn’t taken the sweatshirt out of the donation box and what if he had never felt the paper?! I had to chill out for a second, but important papers don’t go in sweatshirt pouches!

Coni: I did find that an odd place to put it. While you fretted about that, I was trying to figure out the logistics of how all the cars would get out of the zoo when they were all lined up facing one direction.

Amy: I thought about that as well. They would have to move the tree while people were at the zoo and then people could drive forward and turn around in the parking area.

Coni: Everyone would have to leave at the same time.

Amy: Yes, that seems possible. Everyone stays until closing!

Coni: No one leaves until we close!

Amy: And have tea!

Coni:  Overall, I thought it was a good movie that could have been over the top sappy, but was grounded in enough reality that it was just a nice, feel-good movie. So anything else about the movie?

Amy: I think we covered everything. I hope the real zoo can keep going.

Coni: I also hope the real zoo keeps going.

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