Can't trust the critics on this one; the movie touched me
7/10
Author: JohnRayPeterson from Montreal, Canada
5 October 2012
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Can't trust the critics on this one; consulting my usual sources, I found unexpectedly low ratings. How could this be, I asked myself. Well, I found this, Morgan Freeman in a movie directed and co-written by Rob Reiner, was suspiciously slanted. Perhaps the story was grossly uninteresting or unappealing. I wondered; I certainly didn't think so when I read the storyline. After viewing the movie, I can assure that's not the case. It's a beautiful story, thanks to inspired writing, great dialogue and impeccable delivery by talented performers and not in the least by splendid directing.
I'll grant one factor to critics, for their reason to underrate it; the ending is predictable. So what! Your favorite songs and books are some things you can listen to and read again, even if you know the outcome; that does not make it less good. If you want something unpredictable, watch 'The Skin I live In'. I was very surprised by that movie (one I liked for that reason), but I liked 'We Bought A Zoo' just as much, yet for the opposite reason; it is predictable, but the journey is the pleasure the movies provide the viewers, after all.
Morgan Freeman is as good as he was in his Oscar wining performance. It takes talent to make you believe a character who is a Beethoven loving cowboy writer drunk, one who speaks like the best novelists of any period. Guys… you may want to write some lines his character delivers to Virginia Madsen's character Charlotte; they are the kind to woo any woman with a pulse. Two of Charlotte's girls are adorable, much like Maggie Elizabeth Jones was in 'We Bought a Zoo'; she was so good, it takes those two girls of Charlotte to give you that same charmed feeling, but you will feel it. Madsen was the perfect fit for the role of Charlotte; she can still use her eyes like a magnet to steel, and that's a good thing. I recommend the movie without hesitation and screw the critics. (Yeah ! SCREW the professional critics!)
