We Bought a Zoo (DVD + Digital Copy)

Apparently it’s a true story given the American dream makeover. Who cares? Very watchable with a good cast. Enjoyable family film for a rainy Sunday. It has no pretensions to being a great film. It’s just a good, well made, well acted family film.

What a film!

A comfortable armchair movie for a rainy day when you need to have your spirits lifted. The cast blend well and make everything seem possible. This film has the right blend of human emotion, challenge and commitment, plus appealing roles from the animals. As Matt Damon tells his son 'it takes only 20 seconds to make anything possible', a good one to remember, that and a smile. Five star and perfect family viewing!

Sometimes, I like to see a film that challenges, maybe needs several watches to get everything that's there. And sometimes I like to see a film that delivers, up front, no effort required on my part, and just makes me feel better about life.And this one fits the second category perfectly. OK, the little girl sometimes runs a dangerous line between delightfully cute and precociously annoying, and Scarlett Johansson can't do dowdy if she tries. But there's a nice interplay between the characters, life lessons are learnt without being shouted out, and throughout the film even when things look like they're going wrong, there's a lovely feelgood atmosphere to the whole piece.Of course you can pick holes in it if you want, but why would you want to? I don't think I'm introducing any plot spoilers (and in case I am, SPOILER ALERT), but this is a film where you're fairly sure after a few minutes that you know where it's going, and that's fine because it's where you want it to go.For sure, the whole thing is served up with many teaspoons of sugar, and I imagine that some may find it a bit too cloying. But if you're an old softie like me, you'll lap it up.I'm sure that this is one of the films that we'll go back to for choice, just when we fancy something to cheer us up. It won't win awards, but this is what I would class as simply a lovely film.

This is a well-told story of a true story of a family that is going through a pretty tough patch when the father decides to buy a zoo. A really good cast, with screenplay that should have you laughing and crying. A feel good film, gritty in places. Contagious in a low-key way.

I loved to this film, very heart warming and great performances by Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson. Very touching film indeed.

Shows the viewer how to work through problems

I had this film recommended to me, and it did not fail to impress. It's a lovely gentle story (very different from your standard Matt Damon type film). Originally went to see it at the cinema with a group of friends, none of whom had heard of the film or really knew what it was about, but all of them came away loving the film and wanting to own a copy.It's a heartbreaking story about a young family who have lost their wife/mother, to decide to start anew by buying a run down zoo (because the little girl fell in love with the house), and it's the story of how the rebuild their lives and the lives of all the people and animal involved in the zoo.Its based on a true story of a zoo in south England, and I own the book (signed by the original Ben), and there's also a tv series thats a documentary showing the real people of the zoo as rebuild it.Be warned, it's very sad, but it's also a really lovely film.