We Bought a Zoo
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: December 23, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
18
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 16, 2012
It's a bit sucrose, especially at the beginning, but this traditional, sweet-natured family film will tug on the heartstrings. Read full review
60
Total FilmAndrew LowryMar 16, 2012
It's slight, sure, and there's a better, less-glossy film buried in the material, but warm performances redeem Crowe's agreeable return. Read full review
60
EmpireIan FreerMar 12, 2012
Zoo is the antithesis of edgy, an overlong, all encompassing experience that despite Crowe's integrity and lightness of touch doesn't deliver the emotional experience of, say, "Jerry Maguire" or "Almost Famous." Still, it is good to have the righteous dude back. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyDec 22, 2011
An intelligent family film, a rarity, and while not quite Crowe at his absolute best, it carries his humanistic imprint and benefits from a strong acting ensemble that keep emotions in check. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 22, 2011
Whatever the case, you may not buy his happy endings, but it's a seductive ideal when all of God's creatures, great and small, buxom and blond, exist in such harmony. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 22, 2011
A movie you want to like, and a movie you can enjoy if you cut its slackness some slack. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfDec 20, 2011
Too much of the movie feels predestined - down to the rainstorm on opening day - and subplots involving budding romance end up forcing what's implicit. Crowe, meanwhile, still can't stop abusing his vinyl collection; the aural wallpapering of Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and others will surely please postboomer fans who haven't quite gotten the hang of silence. Read full review
60
Village VoiceRobert WilonskyDec 20, 2011
The cynics will scoff and dismiss it all as manipulative, the heartstring-tugging machine on hyperdrive. But this movie isn't for them; did you not see the PG? It's a sweet, sincere, utterly affable kids' movie about how parents are all kinds of screwed up and unable to tell their kids what they want or show them how they feel. Read full review
58
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallDec 26, 2011
In telling someone else's story Crowe loses track of his own as a cultural definer, not a panderer. Mee bought a zoo; Crowe sells out. Read full review
55
MovielineAlison WillmoreDec 22, 2011
The film has the feel of something deeply conventional that Crowe, who's also credited as a screenwriter, has tried with very mixed success to punch up with personality. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianM. E. RussellDec 22, 2011
A modestly charming family crowd-pleaser despite too-broad characterizations by many in the supporting cast. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrDec 22, 2011
A sweet-natured, terribly unthreatening drama about redemption and renewal, and it may matter more to the man who made it than the audiences who see it. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenDec 22, 2011
By trying too hard to stay on this side of hip and the other side of sentimental, Crowe winds up with a zoo that's neither fish nor fowl. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsDec 22, 2011
It's an odd, unsatisfying combination that moves from mopey drama one moment to a reaction shot of a monkey smacking his forehead in exasperation the next. By the end of the film, viewers might understand the monkey's feelings all too well. Read full review
50
VarietyRob NelsonNov 27, 2011
We Bought a Zoo is an odd bird, warm-blooded but largely lifeless. Read full review
42
ColliderMarco Vito OddoApr 5, 2023
There’s no way to hide the lack of substance in We Bought a Zoo, making it hard to justify returning to this decade-old film. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierDec 22, 2011
"Field of Dreams" this ain't, and Crowe, whose "Jerry Maguire" and "Almost Famous" are justly held in high esteem, can't build the right frame here. It's neither fish nor fowl; a "guy-gets-his-life-right" rom-com runs smack into a "kids-with-animals" lark. Read full review
40
Boxoffice MagazineMark OlsenNov 30, 2011
An uneven mix of middle-age anxiety and family comedy. Read full review
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