A widower with a family buys a dilapidated zoo without knowing anything about animals.

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Unable to get over the death of his adored wife, tired of the condolences of those around him, and despite his brothers advice to the contrary, a journalist decides to quit his job and sell the house that holds too many bad memories and move his 7-year-old daughter and rebellious 14-year-old son to a property that includes a dilapidated zoo complete with inhabitants. With a small team of zookeepers to help him with the lions, tigers, snakes, a grizzly and lots of other animals, the man decides to invest his savings in the zoo in hopes of reviving it as a tourist attraction. But he must get past a mean inspector who has to give his approval for the zoo to open to the public.

With animals as sweet as lambs, a story about overcoming the odds of tragedy, a father who refuses to forget his adored wife, the difficulty of being an adolescent, the tendency of director Cameron Crowe to indulge in sweetness like a 7-year-old girl and liberal drops of humor set to a 1970 soundtrack, We Bought a Zoo will enthrall the little ones and move the adults who brought them to tears. Starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, with special mention for Elle Fanning who is wonderful as a lovesick teenager – much better here than in the awful Somewhere by Sofia Coppola.