We Bought a Zoo

CHICAGO – Cameron Crowe’s “We Bought a Zoo” should have made more money. Sure, it’s a cheesy slice of family entertainment but when the cheese is this well-crafted, performed, and delivered, one can’t complain too much about it. “We Bought a Zoo” is too long, not subtle enough, and pretty manipulative, but it the manipulation works. Matt Damon is stellar (as he always seems to be lately) and Crowe tells this old-fashioned tale with enough skill to make it entertaining. “We Bought a Zoo” is one of those rare cross-demographic films — from children to grandparents — that doesn’t insult the intelligence of any of them.

CHICAGO – In a weekend full of new releases and tons of options, the hot movie to see was “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.” Six different movies were estimated at over $7.5 million, but “Ghost Protocol” was easily the tops with an estimated $26.5 million.

CHICAGO – Cameron Crowe’s “We Bought a Zoo” is an undeniably manipulative crowd-pleaser but there’s something about being manipulated in such an expert manner that makes the tugging on the heartstrings easier to take.

CHICAGO – In a weekend box office that had a little more life than the previous weekend, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” reigned supreme. The detective thriller starring Robert Downey Jr. made an estimated $40 million in its opening three days.

CHICAGO – In our latest family dramedy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 40 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the new film “We Bought a Zoo” starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson from the director of “Jerry Maguire”!

CHICAGO – Last week saw the release of Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo,” his long-awaited adaptation of Brian Selznick’s award-winning young adult novel, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret”. And the movie has been “long-awaited” for several reasons. One reason is that the idea of Scorsese doing a kid’s movie is a little mind-blowing.