After weeks of watching Jack Bauer killing everyone he could, we needed a break from violence on the screen !! We Bought a Zoo was just the right movie to watch 🙂
I think Krishnan and I connected with the movie because we toyed with the idea of making a zoo ourselves. Both of us love animals and we hadn’t been on the Botswana safari till then… so we thought we should simply create a zoo. We wanted to do it out of happiness and in the movie, Benjamin Mee does it to start afresh after the death of his wife.
We Bought a Zoo – Plot
Benjamin Mee is grieving the loss of his wife and both his children are missing their mother. When his son gets expelled from school, Benjamin feels the whole family needs a fresh start. They start looking at houses and accidentally get to see a house that comes with a zoo !!
It’s interesting to see how the family adapts to living far away from the city life … the son retreats into his art because none of his friends would come visit. The daughter enjoys herself with the peahens and peacocks. The staff running the zoo is a motley bunch with peculiar habits. I loved the characterisation of Robin Jones with Crystal the monkey always on his shoulder.
The death of Spar the tiger, the son leaving the box full of snakes open and the bear running free are all interesting events woven into the plot.
This movie is loosely based on the real story of Benjamin Mee who did buy the Dartmoor Zoological Park and wrote a book named “We Bought a Zoo”. There are some differences from the way the story really is and the movie but it’s a good movie that you can watch with your children.
Life Lessons
For me the biggest takeaway was “change is good”. I love change and this movie brought home the point that change of scene helps in overcoming grief and sadness. The second thing we realise is, the amount of work one has to do if you are running your own enterprise !!! Third, life is one grand adventure …. and doing things that you enjoy is what it’s all about.
Do watch the movie if you want a break from the regular violent movies that come up over OTT. It’s currently available in Disney Hotstar.