We Bought a Zoo

We Bought a Zoo (2012) starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford, Elle Fanning. Directed by Cameron Crowe. Benjamin Mee (Damon), a recent widower with two children, decides that his next big adventure is going to be, literally, to buy a zoo. Johansson plays Kelly, the leader of a motley crew of zoo keeper personnel who Mee inherits along with the animals. She also, inevitably, becomes Mee's romantic interest -- although he is still too hung up on his deceased wife to be falling in love with someone new. The movie follows a predictable arc, from despair to elation, and Crowe makes you care enough about the characters that the film works. In spite of the fact that it is a "small" film, I liked it. (Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions, are available on the disc.) Grade: B+