When I saw the trailer for ‘We Bought A Zoo’ I thought this was a shoe in for a great film, with its cast, director, and interesting and possibly heart warming true story, it all looked to be a great combination. So when I got my press invite to see the film I was pretty chuffed to have the chance to get a sneak peak viewing before it came out at the cinemas early next year. Also it was going to be my last press screening for the year, and I had a good feeling it was going to end on a high note.

“Set in Southern California, a father moves his young family to the countryside to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo.”

Well this film was both under and over directed by Cameron Crowe, which I guess could be seen as a unique skill to have in the one film. It was equally clumsy, bad, good, cringe worthy, cheesy and heart warming all in one. Even some of the really good actors in the film came off as rather weak, and it wasn’t till the really emotional scenes started kicking in ¾ of the way into the film that I really felt the acting got to a decent level. So looking at the awesome cast involved, and the great track record of the director, makes me think there may have been something else going on behind the scenes that saw this film fall very flat when it had so much going for it. So yeah, I was pretty disappointed, but it was still a good film and I’m sure a great one to take the family along to.

7.5 out of 10 from me.