Something smelly there is about the zoo in We Bought a Zoo, and it's not the animals. It's the script that requires many tissues for audience tears and apparently doesn't much care that it ranks as the sappiest film of 2011.
Since this year's Zookeeper is also one of the worst of 2011, but not sappiest, it would be difficult not to call a draw with the exception that new zoo owner Benjamin Mee in We Bought is played with some grace by Matt Damon and Zookeeper Kevin James not so much.
It's also difficult to believe that fine actress Scarlet Johansson signed up to play Kelly Foster, the manager of the zoo. Her main duty is to smile and fall for Benjamin, as does her niece, Lily (Elle Fanning), for Benjamin's son, Dylan (Colin Ford). Both ladies are lost in their smiles and unessential roles. The boys are just plain lucky to have two attractive ladies in one zoo.
Benjamin buys a home that happens to be a rural zoo in part because his wife died 4 months ago and the grieving process is ongoing, needing somewhere to let out the grief and bring the humanity back in. Director Cameron Crowe mistakenly uses several moments of Benjamin looking at iphotos of his wife, which come alive, to aid the sentimentality of the already overly-subscribed film.
In addition, the sweet score by Jonsi of Signur Ros and sunlit heads create an ethereal mood. Songs by Bob Dylan and Neil Young don't play all that well either. And soundtrack music is Crowe strength—not so much here.
In the end Crowe attempts to manipulate the audience into sympathy for a film that, like its zoo, is old and lifeless. As Kelly says, "The secret to talking is listening," but the listening is more torture than any caged, or rather "secured," animal endures in this broken down zoo.
Since this year's Zookeeper is also one of the worst of 2011, but not sappiest, it would be difficult not to call a draw with the exception that new zoo owner Benjamin Mee in We Bought is played with some grace by Matt Damon and Zookeeper Kevin James not so much.
It's also difficult to believe that fine actress Scarlet Johansson signed up to play Kelly Foster, the manager of the zoo. Her main duty is to smile and fall for Benjamin, as does her niece, Lily (Elle Fanning), for Benjamin's son, Dylan (Colin Ford). Both ladies are lost in their smiles and unessential roles. The boys are just plain lucky to have two attractive ladies in one zoo.
Benjamin buys a home that happens to be a rural zoo in part because his wife died 4 months ago and the grieving process is ongoing, needing somewhere to let out the grief and bring the humanity back in. Director Cameron Crowe mistakenly uses several moments of Benjamin looking at iphotos of his wife, which come alive, to aid the sentimentality of the already overly-subscribed film.
In addition, the sweet score by Jonsi of Signur Ros and sunlit heads create an ethereal mood. Songs by Bob Dylan and Neil Young don't play all that well either. And soundtrack music is Crowe strength—not so much here.
In the end Crowe attempts to manipulate the audience into sympathy for a film that, like its zoo, is old and lifeless. As Kelly says, "The secret to talking is listening," but the listening is more torture than any caged, or rather "secured," animal endures in this broken down zoo.