The premise of ‘We Bought a Zoo’ is slightly preposterous, but I don’t think believability was the point of its filmmakers. It’s an easy film meant to touch the hearts of audiences with cute animals and likable leads. There’s nothing downright terrible about the film, it’s just that it relies too much on cliches and classic storytelling formula.

As the title suggests, someone buys a zoo. This person is Benjamin Mee, played by Matt Damon (‘Contagion’). He’s a recent widower and father of two, a 14-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl. After quitting his job and searching for a new start for his family, Mee eventually buys a new home that just so happens to be a public zoo. From what I understand this film is based on a true story. There really was a Benjamin Mee who bought a zoo, but it took years to do so, not mere days like the film (ridiculously) suggests.

This zoo comes with dedicated zookeepers who have stood by and taken care of the animals for years. One of these workers is Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson), a nice, beautiful young lady who sort-of-kind-of becomes Mee’s love interest. This romantic aspect of ‘We Bought a Zoo’ is shown in bits and pieces throughout the film, but for the most part the film focuses on Mee’s relationship with his children and the rebuilding of the zoo.

The film’s major antagonist is a zoo inspector, named Walter Ferris (John Michael Higgins), who is dead set on failing and shutting down the zoo. So, the major characters in ‘We Bought a Zoo’ spend most of their time renovating the zoo to meet regulation standards. A film like this requires a happy ending, which it just so happens to have, but it makes the mistake of including a last-minute problem meant to induce gasps and worries. This last-minute conflict, in which the “biggest storm in the history of California” arrives the night before the zoo’s grand opening, comes off as desperate and just really unnecessary.

And for a film where the animals are supposed to play a major part, ‘We Bought a Zoo’ barely utilizes its countless caged animals. The rare moments in which the major characters interact with the animals are fun, sure, but it’s odd they’re barely used. The snakes scenes were fun, and the situation with the old lion that has to be put down is sad, but for the most part this is a people film, not an animal one.

Though ‘We Bought a Zoo’ is too predictable and relies too heavily on formula, it still manages to have some emotional weight to it. Matt Damon is able to play a solid and empathetic Benjamin Mee. Scarlett Johansson isn’t half bad in her role, and neither does Colin Ford, who plays Benjamin’s son. The scene-stealer of the film is definitely Benjamin’s young daughter Rosie, played by the adorable Maggie Elizabeth Jones. Director Cameron Crowe (‘Jerry Maguire’) tried his best to make an effective “inspirational” film, but it never ventures beyond predictability and inevitability.

Two and a half out of four Kents.

Extra Notes:

• The film’s soundtrack by the lead singer of Sigor Ros tries to be way too spiritual and uplifting. And one of the last scenes involving the grand opening of the zoo uses the popular song “Hoppipolla” to the point where it’s cheesy, expected, and overbearing.