The two most prevalent themes in Cameron Crowe’s films (Jerry Maguire, Elizabethtown) is that salvation is possible by finding true love and that happiness is possible only by following the beat of your own drum. His latest, We Bought a Zoo, puts both of these lessons front and center. His beleaguered protagonist, widower Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon), takes an unlikely road towards happiness, one that will have others questioning his sanity as it drains his resources.

Loosely based on a true story in England, the film switches its locale to California, where we find the Mee family in turmoil. Still trying to come to terms with the death of his wife, Ben is grasping at straws to get his life back on track and help his son (Colin Ford) deal with his anger. Impulsively, he quits his job and with his impossibly cute daughter (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) in tow, they set out to find a home where the family can start anew. That he agrees to buy a country home that comes with its own zoo shows how desperate he is to please his kids as well as give himself a new challenge.

Not only does the zoo come with 50 different species of animals, but it also has its own menagerie of caretakers, led by the plucky Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson). It doesn’t take long for Ben to realize that he’s in over his head and it soon becomes evident that only the machinations of Crowe’s script will save him. Mee and his crew encounter far too many obstacles along their way to reopening the zoo. After awhile it seems as though Crowe is simply padding the script with the many crises that pop up. An inspector intent on keeping the establishment’s gates shut is played so broadly by John Michael Higgins that it’s hard to take the threat he represents seriously. Crowe’s deus ex machina stratagem to solve Mee’s money problem smacks of desperation, yet his heart is in the right place.

With sincere turns from Damon and the rest of the cast, Zoo winds up being a heartfelt film that benefits greatly from its sweet tone, yet another Crowe trademark.

Contact Chuck Koplinski at ckoplinski@usd116.org.