We Bought a Zoo
- -Benjamin has lost his wife and, in a bid to start his life over, purchases a large house that has a zoo – welcome news for his daughter, but his son is not happy about it. The zoo is need of renovation and Benjamin sets about the work with the head keeper and the rest of the staff, but, the zoo soon runs into financial trouble.
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by Ginger
Did you ever wonder what it would be like to own your own zoo? So did this family movie guide. Well, the Mees had not imagined it either until this movie. Benjamin Mee is a father, not unlike many fathers in this day and age. He must struggle to make ends meet, at the expense of family time. He wants more time with his family, so for Christmas, he decides to move them to a place in the country. The only catch, it is a zoo, it is literally…a zoo.
Buying a zoo is every child’s dream, and the Mee children get just that. When the Mees buy the zoo, it is in financial and structural ruin. It is a real fixer-upper. Benjamin feels that it takes more heart than money to run a zoo. Together the Mees go on a wonderful journey where they find themselves and find their place as a family. This is a drama that is designed to appeal to kids as well as adults.
This movie guide found that it is one of those wonderful emotional journey movies: it makes you laugh, it makes you cry sort of movie. It touches your heart in many ways and makes you take a look at your own life. It has stellar performances by both animals and human characters. Younger children might not get as much out of it as school aged children, but this is still an excellent family movie. The younger ones will at least love the animals. The younger kids in the movie are really cute and have some great lines.
The movie is about the themes of it’s never too late to start over, eternal hope, and finding joy in life. The thematic elements involve times of frustration and anger by the main characters. The main character takes his anger out on a barrel. It is a movie about courage and finding out what is important in life. The thematic elements mentioned in the official movie rating and language did not detract from this being a good family movie. They were well placed and added to the plot. In terms of film reviews for families, they were meant to illustrate a point, which is different from the gratuitous violence and foul language found in other movies rated family friendly by the MPAA. This being said, We Bought A Zoo would make a wonderful family movie matinee out during the holidays. This family movie guide would not even give a second thought to bringing the little ones along too. It is a wonderful movie for the entire family.