Movies

Cameron's Crowe's latest film, his first in six years, yearns to be the poignant, life-affirming drama its source material asks for. Instead, We Bought a Zoo only halfway gets there with a muddled plot that distracts from the emotional punches it could pull.

Newly widowed Benjamin (Matt Damon) buys a private rundown zoo in an impulsive effort to heal his family. It's in drastic need of repair and haemorrhaging money. Taking tentative steps to put aside his own anger and despair, he throws himself into reopening the zoo to reconnect with his sullen son Dylan (Colin Ford) and to remind his daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) that the world is still joyful.

The script takes some liberties with its adaptation of Benjamin Mee's British memoir (Mee actually bought the zoo before his wife died) and the narrative drifts unsuccessfully between comical holiday-film fare (oh my, a box of snakes has been left unlatched!) and an exploration of the tensions of a family in mourning.

Damon is so damn likeable that you could forgive most of the film's fumblings but it remains in first gear, never quite able to take off despite the audience's willingness to go there.

Scarlett Johansson feels underused in her role as zookeeper Kelly, and spends the film offering stern advice while Crowe tries to keep her sensuality under wraps by having her schlepp around in gumboots and spouting animal facts. Almost all the minor characters are cartoonishly depicted and instead of bringing verve to the film, provide only cringeworthy distractions.

Thomas Haden Church brings some vigour to the proceedings as scurrilous rogue and older brother Duncan, and the adorable factor is pushed into overdrive by the child actors, in particular Elizabeth Jones who has snagged the cutest kid ever award from Jerry Maguire's fact-spitting Ray.

We Bought a Zoo is fine; it just could've been so much better.