WE BOUGHT A ZOO

WE BOUGHT A ZOO
Written by Aline Brosh McKenna and Cameron Crowe
Directed by Cameron Crowe
Starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and Thomas Haden Church

In 2006, a man by the name of Benjamin Mee bought a zoo alongside his mother and his brother. He had no experience with animals and, in fact, his offer to buy the zoo was originally rejected based on his inexperience. The zoo had been closed earlier that year and it was Mee’s plan to refurbish and reopen to the public as soon as possible. His wife, Katherine, died after he and his family had already moved to the zoo but he soldiered on with his two young children and eventually brought the zoo back up to code. Mee’s story is unorthodox and inspirational and thanks to famed film director, Cameron Crowe, it has now been sucked of all genuine heart and humanity and turned into a ridiculous and laughable “true story” film called WE BOUGHT A ZOO.

Buying a ticket to WE BOUGHT A ZOO is less about buying into what actually happened and more into a Hollywood idea of what should have happened in order for audiences to understand the inspiration in Mee’s journey. On screen, Mee is played by Matt Damon, who cannot seem to choose a decent project these days. For the purposes of the film, Mee’s wife is already dead when we meet him. In fact, it is her absence in his life that propels him to buy the zoo in the first place. He is looking to find meaning in his life again and boy does he need it. Crowe paints Mee’s life as one big giant cliche - from desperate single mothers bringing him lasagna six months after his wife’s passing to his brother (Thomas Haden Church) making broad suggestions that he just needs to get back out there. Even his eldest son is painting gothic imagery in school so you know that things are not good. Hence, the zoo.

Thank goodness for Damon. He elevates past the triteness of every scene to reveal true pain and difficulty in dealing with the loss of his wife and the scary, new direction of his life. Crowe frames him in close-up so often, it is impossible to miss any part of his emotional journey but despite Damon’s best efforts, he cannot save WE BOUGHT A ZOO from Crowe’s completely crazy approach to the rest of the film. Almost every character other than Damon’s is an exaggerated farce. (You cannot convince me for one second that supposed zookeeper, Scarlett Johansson, knows anything about wild animals.) Perhaps this is meant to show how bizarre the world seems in Damon’s state of grief but it really only comes off as disingenuous and distracting. Benjamin Mee is a real person who really bought a zoo but all Crowe seems to see is the movie, not the man, and he barely has a handle on that as it is.

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IRON MAN 2

Written by Justin Theroux

Directed by Jon Favreau

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Dona Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke

Ivan Vanko: If you could make God bleed, people would cease to believe in him.

When the lights went down at the sold out opening night screening of IRON MAN 2 that I attended, there was a particular energy in the air.  It was that moment when you realize that what you’ve been waiting for for so long is really about to take place.  The hushed anticipation was infectious and, as exciting as it was to feel it build, it was just as disappointing to feel that energy die off as the film unfolded.  Iron Man may have a brand new suit but his heavier armour ultimately just weighed this new adventure down.

I had no knowledge of Iron Man before the first film, other than the fact that he existed anyway.  When director Jon Favreau introduced him as an irresponsible billionaire who learns that his legacy would be essentially ensuring continuous and unnecessary destruction until there was nothing left to blow up, I instantly loved the guy.  Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), as privileged as he was, was still human and still had a soul that he didn’t want to see damned.  Super ego still intact but changed nonetheless at the end of the first film, Stark re-emerges now as narcissistic and oblivious again, almost as if to satisfy what test audiences liked most about him after the first film.  It gives the film itself an air of arrogance that it is difficult to recover from.  The Iron Man people know they did good last time out and like Tony Stark, it seems to have gone to their heads a bit too much.

Justin Theroux, the writer of TROPIC THUNDER, is a new addition to the Iron Man team and, despite his clear ability to be laugh out loud funny, he takes Iron Man and Tony Stark to some pretty dark places.  There is nothing wrong with going to these places in a superhero movie but with Stark coming off more smug and callous from the beginning, there isn’t as much sympathy to go around when Theroux finally reveals why Stark is acting this way.  Downey Jr. still nails Stark but despite having some serious mortality issues to deal with this time, he never seems to get to the core of where Stark is coming from.  And, correct me if I’m wrong, but Iron Man is nothing without his core. 

Other newcomers to the Iron Man world include Mickey Rourke as a sinister Russian physicist bent on revenge, Sam Rockwell as a less successful version of Stark himself, Scarlett Johansson as a sultry new member of Stark’s team and Don Cheadle as a replacement for Terrence Howard in the Rhodey role, Stark’s best buddy.  Rourke is certainly scary but he seems to be trying too hard to redefine evil, much like Heath Ledger did as The Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT.  Rockwell is hilarious and stylin’ in the three-piece suits he wears to cover up his inferiority issues.  Meanwhile, Cheadle does nothing with the opportunity that fell in his lap and I would really like to see Johansson do something other than just look sultry for a change.

IRON MAN 2 does get better as it goes on.  I don’t want to make it sound like it’s a bad time.  It’s just easier to focus on what isn’t working when everything worked so well in the past.  Favreau does his best to keep things smooth and fresh; Downey Jr. delivers as expected but ultimately, IRON MAN 2 just isn’t as much fun as the first.  You might say it has an iron deficiency.  You might.

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