I’m generally not the sentimental type. There are a few movies that are perennial sap-makers for me (Always, anyone?), and since becoming a mother, you really can’t put me in front of a kids’ movie without me making a fool of myself (Iron Giant and Bolt are particularly difficult for me), but We Bought a Zoo was over-the-top. Apparently the recipe for tears is to put me and my sick kid on a couch, both of us feverish and missing the extended family Easter festivities … and to have a seemingly family movie actually be about a dead wife and mother and grieving.
Now, I don’t exactly agree with Jeremy that this film was “a treacly, saccharine, manipulative piece of schlock,” but I’d give it manipulative. First off, it’s really not a movie for young children. I thought this was going to be a happy-go-lucky film about a family working together to build their dream and have an adventure … I didnt know it was going to be about this sad family recovering from the wife and mother’s early death from the unknown sickness which keeps being mentioned, but was clearly some sort of cancer, where she dies slowly and painfully and looked awful, which we know thanks to the scene with the father and the seven-year-old daughter. As if we didn’t have enough misery, they have to put a beloved tiger down and it just brings back all the pain from the wife’s death. Have a box of tissues, that’s all I’m saying.
I also didn’t think that a movie rated “PG” could have multiple “shits” and “dammits” and an “asshole” and a “dick,”not to mention a barb about still believing in the Easter Bunny. Yep, my seven-year-old heard that one, this fine Easter afternoon. This would probably be a fine family movie for tweens and their parents to watch together, but most of it went right over my seven-year-old’s head, and I’m glad. At this young age, I don’t want him relating to death and grief, loss and pain. I only wish there were more funny animal scenes to have countered the sadness.
I’m not going to do a full movie review, because you have Michael’s and Jeremy’s detailed opinions for that. My job is to review the DVD, just released on April 3, and its fine special features. With over two hours of special features, they surely didn’t skimp, which I can appreciate. Far more special features are available on the Blu-ray version, so that’s what I’ll review here.
Audio Commentary, Deleted and Extended Scenes, and a Gag Reel are pretty standard fare these days. What I was so glad to see is “The Real Mee,” the story behind the real Benjamin Mee and his family. If you’ve got a movie based on a true story, you’d better play up the true part, and this is exactly what they did.
Another strength of the film is the soundtrack, something else played up in the special features, with a clip entitled “Their Happy Is Too Loud.” I suppose it was cool to see how they matched up the music to the scenes, but my favorite parts were the songs not original to the movie, and how they fit so well into the storyline. I get that they wanted to give the composer his due, though.
If you’re a huge fan of this movie, you’ll adore the special features, which make you feel like you were on set as they were filming and also bring you into the life of Benjamin Mee. You apparently also have to have plenty of stock in Kleenex.
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Apr 09, 2012 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
<——- has it … loves it