We Bought a Zoo (2011)

All Critics (154) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (103) | Rotten (50) | DVD (7)

Crowe, to his credit, is more concerned with insights about family than romance - and some of these are heart-on-sleeve touching if you've got a sweet tooth for the stickier stuff.

March 13, 2012 Full Review

Cath Clarke

Time Out

Top Critic

Nothing that happens in this movie is in the least surprising, but it's all quite pleasant and even, at times, moving.

January 9, 2012 Full Review | Comments (3)

David Denby

New Yorker

Top Critic

The movie has animals, kids and fine acting from Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, but it lacks the emotional honesty and unpredictability that made Crowe's early films so irresistible.

January 5, 2012 Full Review | Comment (1)

Rafer Guzman

Newsday

Top Critic

Damon and Colin Ford as his teen son have an affecting hesitancy, their hearts hovering between the living and the dead.

December 30, 2011 Full Review

David Edelstein

New York Magazine

Top Critic

The picture annoys you, but it also wrings happy tears, because Crowe pulls at your heartstrings in crafty ways.

December 28, 2011 Full Review

Rene Rodriguez

Miami Herald

Top Critic

A professional actor in the best sense, always credibly grounded, Damon is much better than the material, and so is Colin Ford who plays the troubled son.

December 23, 2011 Full Review | Comment (1)

Rick Groen

Globe and Mail

Top Critic

...this is packed with all the warmth, heart and humanity that one has come to expect from a Cameron Crowe film.

October 24, 2012 Full Review

Cara Nash

FILMINK (Australia)

A muddled focus keeps We Bought a Zoo from being a guaranteed hit with kids or a captivating adult drama but there are enough compelling moments to make it worthwhile.

October 1, 2012 Full Review

Ben Kendrick

ScreenRant

In short, We Bought a Zoo is all bore and no roar, and while it's certainly not the worst of Crowe's career, it's far from earning its stripes as a worthy successor to his earlier films.

September 15, 2012 Full Review

Kristal Cooper

We Got This Covered

Might be a stereotypical 'family movie,' but it's still a good one.

August 22, 2012 Full Review

William Bibbiani

CraveOnline

full review at Movies for the Masses

April 27, 2012 Full Review | Comment (1)

Joseph Proimakis

Movies for the Masses

The film is a button-pusher, but it is so in the nicest way possible.

April 18, 2012 Full Review

Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

A slick, professional high-def disc that's designed a little like a handmade mixtape, there's plenty of heart and soul (and brains) in Fox's excellent Blu-ray for We Bought a Zoo.

April 11, 2012 Full Review

Jaime N. Christley

Slant Magazine

A few more animal encounters and fewer grief sessions would have been nice, but it's still a solid family film.

April 7, 2012 Full Review | Comments (2)

James Plath

Movie Metropolis

Suffers from a case of schizophrenia; some of it is waaay too simple, cutesy and/or sappy for adults, while other scenes are too intense and adult for children.

April 3, 2012 Full Review

Fr. Chris Carpenter

Movie Dearest

It's something of a sweet-natured slog, peppered, as all of Crowe's films are, peppered with the pop music the former pop music journalist loves.

March 23, 2012 Full Review | Comment (1)

Roger Moore

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

It unfolds like military assault on the tear ducts. Don't know when to cry? Here comes Sigur Rós' Jónsi with an evocative sonic swoop to help you on your way.

March 19, 2012 Full Review

Tara Brady

Irish Times

A mushy metaphor for what it takes to bring a "Cameron Crowe movie" to the big screen.

March 19, 2012 Full Review

Alistair Harkness

Scotsman

There is no harm in it and not a single surprise.

March 18, 2012 Full Review

Philip French

Observer [UK]

The shameless manipulation on display here makes one wonder where Cameron Crowe's talent has gone.

March 18, 2012 Full Review

Shaun Munro

What Culture

While the creatures may be dangerous, Jerry Maguire director Cameron Crowe definitely plays things safe.

March 16, 2012 Full Review

Jason Best

Movie Talk

You have to admire the thoroughness with which We Bought a Zoo - which is the film Disney would make if they still knew how - caters to the whole family.

March 16, 2012 Full Review

David Sexton

This is London

• 1. Dylan Mee: You're funny with everyone else, but never with me. Which I find funny!
  – Submitted by Kevin V (4 months ago)
• 1. Peter MacCready: You don't want me, I'm full of scotch, bitterness, and impure thoughts.
  – Submitted by Jillian L (4 months ago)
• 1. Rosie Mee: [as Walter Ferris is finalizing his inspection] You know, everybody here thinks you're a dick. I don't know what that means, but I don't think that.
  – Submitted by Jillian L (4 months ago)
• 1. Benjamin Mee: It's not about where an adventure ends, because that's not what an adventure is about.
  – Submitted by Hriya M (7 months ago)
• 1. Benjamin Mee: What I've figured out is that when you love somebody that much, that hard, that long, you can never get away from them, no matter where you go. And that only comes once in a lifetime. Just can't get a handle on it. I cannot let go.
  – Submitted by Jayathra L (12 months ago)
• 1. Benjamin Mee: I thought if I came out here it would stop. Back home, every place reminded me of her. Filippe's on Third Street. Balboa Park. Little Dom's, the coffee shop, that... That's a big one.
  – Submitted by Jayathra L (12 months ago)

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