Metascore

Mixed or average reviews - based on 40 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 114 Ratings

  • Summary: We Bought a Zoo, a memoir by Benjamin Mee, tells the true account of how the author and his family used their life savings to buy a dilapidated zoo, replete with 200 exotic animals facing destruction, in the English countryside. Mee, along with his children, had to balance caring for his wife, who was dying of brain cancer, with dealing with escaped tigers, raising endangered animals, working with an eclectic skeleton crew and readying the zoo for a reopening. (20th Century Fox)


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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 40
  2. Negative: 3 out of 40
  1. Reviewed by: Bill Goodykoontz
    Dec 21, 2011
    80
    Damon can elevate just about anything in which he appears.
  2. Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    Dec 23, 2011
    75
    Genuinely charming, treacle-free family films are tough to find these days, so I'm happy to heartily recommend We Bought a Zoo as heartwarming holiday fare that even jaded adults can share with the kids.
  3. Reviewed by: Peter Bradshaw
    Mar 16, 2012
    60
    It's a bit sucrose, especially at the beginning, but this traditional, sweet-natured family film will tug on the heartstrings.
  4. Reviewed by: Dan Kois
    Dec 22, 2011
    30
    The realities that Crowe creates all seem like pleasant enough places to be, but you'd never mistake them for real life. The fuzzy, squishy world of We Bought a Zoo may be the Cameron Crowe-iest of them all.

See all 40 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 46
  2. Negative: 6 out of 46
  1. 9
    My friends & I loved this movie. It made me laugh, jump, sad & happy. It is not a "intellectual " film. It is just a good time. The little girl is adorable. You can feel that Matt Damon's character is someone with heart. No, real life wouldn't be that easy but it's a movie people! Expand
  2. man
    8
    I wasn't looking to foreward to this movie due to the average metacscore it got. However, as soon as the film was over, I honestly wondered to myself which movie the critics saw. Some of my family members got emotional near the end and I don't know why. I did not cry at all during this film. In my opinion this isn't an emotional movie, it's a feel-good movie that does its job well in every category. The acting performances from Matt Damon and Scarlett Johanson are superb! Thomas Hayden Church pulls off a likeable supporting role. Then we get Elle Fanning, who's amazing in every movie she does.Lastly, I must mention Maggie Elizabeth Jones. She was a very big highlight for this film in my opinion, because she's just so adorable and easily stole the whole audience's heart I bet! Colin Ford as Dylan was the only not-so-great performance and the only unlikeable character in the film. He over-acted his role and was just plain terrible! Story is good, but slow on and off. In the end, it seems like it's the animals that really make you feel good during the final zoo scene. However, the wonderful human ensemble equally captures everyone's hearts as well! Overall, a memorable feel-good holiday film to come to everyone's home collection(hopefully)in time. I think everyone including families should get the chance to see this wonderful film! Trust me! You won't be disappointed! Expand
  3. Sure, it's a bit of a letdown for a Cameron Crowe movie, but judged in isolation, it's a heartwarming flick, and Thomas Hayden Church is hilarious in it - in a small role. The actor who plays the son isn't quite up to the task, and Elle Fanning over-acts to a fault, but, surprisingly, Scarlett Johansson is better in this than just about anything I've seen her in. The restrained sexuality is what does it for her. You don't have to bed the owner in the first scene to have value in the movie, Scar.... Expand
  4. Pleasant enough but bland, innocuous and cliché ridden. The worst offender being a cheesy, non-ironic montage. Perfect tv movie style fare for a wet Wednesday afternoon but don't waste a Friday or Saturday evening with it. Expand

See all 46 User Reviews

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