We Bought A Zoo (7/10)

This was a very difficult movie to make, in my opinion. Difficult in the sense that there was never any highs and if put on a graph, it would have been one straight horizontal line.
And for Cameron Crowe, he has had his fair share of hits and misses. This one fortunately wasn't too far off the mark. And Crowe's decision and insistence to cast Matt Damon was 100% on the mark because had it been anyone else any less capable, this movie wouldn't have been interesting at all.
Damon was the glue that held everything together. And a few posts before this I mentioned how A-listers that's been around for long like Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp and Nicolas Cage have their own habits, Damon still hasn't shown any signs of those yet.
Scarlett Johansson has that magnetism that helped as well even though her character didn't really have to do too much. Chemistry wise I thought could have had more between her and Damon though.
John Michael Higgins stole the scene the first time he came on. Just that "introductory" scene of his character, priceless. Credit must go to Crowe.
Thomas Haden Church and Angus Macfadyen were great additions. I wasn't too big a fan of Elle Fanning's performance here as a wide-eyed, innocent farm girl. But for little Maggie Elizabeth Jones, she was a joy to watch and just too cute not to be liked.
But credit really have to be given to Crowe because not once did he make the movie feel like one of those typical Disney family movie. The whole thing felt very sincere, and very matured. Even when shooting the animals. He gave them that sense of endagered quality that needed to be treasured.
And that final scene with that final line, I got all choked up. Well played, Mr Crowe, well played.