Some films have that old fashioned (and I don’t mean that in a bad way) feel to them.  They are like the films that the Disney would present and the whole family used to huddle around the television on Sunday evenings to watch.  All of them made you laugh and cry and feel good after you watched them.  Innocent. Sentimental (again not in a bad way).  That is exactly the feeling I got while watching Cameron Crowe’s (Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire) latest film, We Bought a Zoo.  Even the title reeks of the Disney film style.

A mere six months after the death of his wife, Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon – The Departed, The Adjustment Bureau) is trying to pick up the pieces of his life and carry on.  Mostly this is because he is now a single father to two children, young daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones – Footloose – 2011) and brooding teenage son, Dylan (Colin Ford – In the Name of the King, Push).  After Dylan gets expelled from school and Benjamin becomes tired of the “pity” jobs he is getting from his editor, he quits his job as a journalist at a Los Angeles newspaper, packs up the family and moves them to a rural area outside the city.  Benjamin is looking for a fresh start for his family.

Now this is not just any rural property as it also includes ownership of a zoo.  The zoo has fallen on hard times, lost most of its staff other than a few loyal individuals and has been closed to the public for a while.  In other words it is in a state of disrepair.  Benjamin is determined with the help of head zookeeper Kelly (Scarlett Johansson – Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Iron Man 2) to get the zoo up to code and reopened.

While Rosie is extremely happy to be there Dylan becomes sulkier than ever.  He wanders off lost in his dark, graphic drawings making very little attempt to help get the zoo opened.  The only person he shows the least bit of interest in is Kelly’s 12-year-old cousin, Lily (Elle Fanning – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Super 8), who lives at the zoo.  The divide between father and son becomes wider than ever.  That pressure is added to when Benjamin realizes that he is out of money and does not have any left to get the zoo up to code to pass the inspection that is going to happen before the planned July 7^th reopening.  It looks like Benjamin and his family might have to cut their losses, admit defeat and move back to the city.  This would probably lead to the zoo animals all being put down.  Does the Mee family have what it takes to get through this?

It works because nothing about it feels fake; it is genuine through and through.  The charm comes out of the film’s belief in happy endings and that nothing can defeat the human spirit.  Tons of energy and a can do attitude does not wear on the viewer, rather it wins you over.

It has been interesting to watch Matt Damon mature as his career has gone on.  He started off as the cute but wiseass guy who starred in films like Good Will Hunting and The Legend of Bagger Vance then transitioned into a action flick hero in the Bourne film series and has now in his 40s smoothly evolved into a socially conscious actor who can provide the narration for a documentary like Inside Job about the recent economic crash in the United States and also can play a widowed father of two kids.  In every portion of his career he has been believable in the characters he has chosen to play.  He, at this point in his career, is able to disappear into any type of role.

Cameron Crowe always seems to be able to tell a story the precise way needed to get it to pull the required emotions out of you.  He is an expert storyteller.  Crowe starts out this one a little slowly, but the second half of the film more than makes up for it.  You feel heartbroken and sad for a family that is going through a really rough patch and then Crowe brings about plenty of spunk that allows your heart to find the light in the dark.  The cuteness of the animals and the kids really helps towards that end.

If you want to split hairs about the film then you can take a pot shot at it by saying that it was quite predictable.  Yes, you know what the ending will be from the beginning, but it’s no matter.  Disney has made a lot of universally enjoyed films that have been predictable.  The heartwarming holiday family film will be enjoyed by the whole clan.