We Bought a Zoo

What do you do after your partner dies, you quit your job, your son is expelled, and it feels like your thirst for adventure is wantonly drying up?

You move your family to the country after buying yourself a zoo, that's what you do, and do everything in your power to turn its fortunes around.

This is precisely what happens in Cameron Crowe's lively new film We Bought a Zoo, based on the true story of Benjamin Mee's purchase of the Dartmoor Zoological Park in Devon, England.

Full of entrepreneurial grit and zoological tenacity, Mr. Mee (Matt Damon) doesn't let minor details like having no experience at all in regards to zoo management get in his way, as he risks his remaining capital and gets to know his dedicated staff.

Will taking care of a wide variety of animal species in the hopes of bringing his zoo up to code so that the public can wonder at their ferocious longevity and provide him with the funds to stay in business enable him to get over his wife's death and develop stronger bonds with his two children?

Will the charms of stunning young feisty zoologist Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson) play an integral role in his personal transformation and demand that he learn to let go?

Will prickly zoo inspector Walter Ferris's (John Michael Higgins) dismissive demeanour teach him that the biggest adventure of all is learning how to play by the rules?

And will an escaped grizzly bear function as the catalyst that displaces one means of production for another?

Through the passage of time.

We Bought a Zoo makes me wish I could buy the shit out of a zoo and manage it and take care of all the animals and slug beers with my staff and analyze the porcupines etc.

It's an evocative enlivening testament to the strength of the human spirit which is challenged at every turn and rejuvenated through the art of sociozoology.