We Bought a Zoo (2011) review

Danger-seeking writer Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon), who has to take care of his two children Dylan (Colin Ford) and Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) after his wife passed away, moves out of his noisy neighborhood and, just as the title says, he purchases an actual zoo ... but then has to contend with problems, including the growing cost of running the establishment, Dylan's anger at being a long distance from his friends and draconian inspector Walt Ferris (John Michael Higgins), who doesn't want it open to the public.  Late night host Jimmy Kimmel - who's been in a (not serious) feud with Damon for years - has had a field day making fun of this which is a little too easy because it seems like a glorified after-school special (although it is based on a true story), and with Crowe directing it you can expect not a single second to go by without some pop song playing (Bob Dylan, Temple of the Dog, Bon Iver, Neil Young, etc.).  If its pleas for audience sympathy weren't clear from the beginning, none other than Jónsi (from Icelandic band Sigur Rós) was hired to make the soundtrack even weepier.