"I am full of scotch and bitterness and impure thoughts"

We Bought A Zoo 25/03/12

Director: Cameron Crowe

Writers: Aline Brosh McKenna, Cameron Crowe, Benjamin Mee

2011

            This is a film which ticks a lot of boxes for family film success. We have two leads that are in demand, as well as melting hearts on both sides of the gender divide. There is appeal to younger folk, in the form of two prominent child characters as well as a plethora of interesting animals. There is also the family film standby of eccentric supporting characters, which are always best when combined with an accent (the standout in this film is Scottish). Add to this the emotional weight of a dead mother and the basis for the screenplay being a true story and there is quite a bit to hold people’s interest.

            There is also plenty of possibility for cheesy Hollywood formulas and simplistic writing that exploits the title and just adds easy jokes and lazy emotional distress. That is what I was scared of and had me thinking twice about paying to see it. Without Matt Damon (I haven’t seen him go far wrong in a long time) and Scarlett Johannson (she can really act when she picks the right roles) I may have been put off completely, but pay I did.

            The film begins by painting a portrait of Benjamin Mee’s (Damon) life after his beloved wife died. He is a busy man, juggling an adventurous journalism career with raising his teenage son Dylan (Colin Ford) and young daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones). Again this is casting that could make or break such a film, many have been tarnished by poor child actors that stray from endearing to annoying. Rosie is played just right by Miss Jones, she delivers her funny/cute lines as just that, rather than seeming to grab for attention. Colin Ford had perhaps a more difficult job, he plays a moody 14 year old that is misbehaving in school and spends all his time drawing horror-themed pictures. Without any real comedic relief for his character all we get is angst, and despite feeling sympathy for his loss of a parent I couldn’t otherwise invest in the character.

            So in an effort to escape single mothers with a pitying look in their eyes (giving him phone numbers attached to lasagnes) and painful memories in coffee shops, Benjamin phones an estate agent (an entertaining cameo from J.B. Smoove) and, long story short, ends up with a zoo. With this zoo comes staff, where we get our assortment of eccentric supporting performances as well as Kelly Foster (Johansson). Foster is somewhere between a love interest and emotional guide for Benjamin, and the usual love/hate dynamic applies, however the two actors are good enough (along with the writing) to make this seem fresh and convincing. From here on in we see Benjamin trying to hold it together while dealing with the new financial pressures of the zoo, clashing with his teenage son as well as his own grief. A lot of the subsequent turmoil could have been at home in a full on drama, but there is still a light feel to the rest of the film.

            Although it took 10 minutes or so to win me over I enjoyed this film. It is funny without trying too hard, mostly well acted (Carla Gallo was an exception) and well put together. Though the cinematography and editing wasn’t groundbreaking it needn’t be, it never stole focus from the story but always seemed well thought out. My main problem with the film was the mix of dark themes surrounding grief and family arguments with polite family humour. Don’t get me wrong, the mix worked in this case, but I don’t know if the writers gutted some of the more hefty content for the sake of making a family film and exploiting the zoo setting. If so this decision risked succumbing to cliché and cheese, yet they never went all out and made a children’s film. I would expect any child under 10 to get bored/confused by the more dramatic scenes.  This was based on a true story though, which had a true happy ending, so I suppose I can’t complain too much. To be honest this film proves that you can meet the needs of all ages of a family without avoiding real emotional content. That is not easy and Cameron Crowe and team deserve recognition for it.

"You're a lumberjack and here I am talking dresses to you"

Bill Cunningham New York 19/03/12

Director: Richard Press

2010

This has been on my must watch list for a while now, and has finally come round for a UK release. Well what does a documentary about a fashion photographer in New York have to offer an Englishman with practically zero interest in fashion? It turns out quite a bit. For starters Bill Cunningham isn’t ‘any’ fashion photographer, he is ‘the’ fashion photographer. He has been working in New York City for decades, and before that he was in the army, before that a hat maker in the famous Carnegie Hall. That is where we first see him, wrestling his Schwinn bicycle (his 29^th, the previous 28 having been stolen) out of a closet, which he uses as a trusty steed on the packed streets of NYC.

Bill is about 80 when we meet him, but this is not slowing him down or stopping him from cutting off angry taxi drivers. He maintains two longstanding magazine columns, one where he deals with the epitome of New York status (he chooses the charity parties to attend based on merit, not guest list) and another where he snatches candid shots of people on the street (we see a girl threaten to break his camera). We hear how he likes to shoot in rain and snow because it makes people pay less attention to him, and how he wants to see people with daring and taste, not “cookie-cutter” fashion. Somewhat ironically he spots trends months before they take off, and these then become ‘normal’. He claims that instead of imposing his own views on fashion he lets the street speak to him and tries to spot themes. He is in search of a fashion truth.

This is all interesting (especially for fashion students and the like) but for me I couldn’t care less who introduced America to Jean-Paul Gaultier. However I was intrigued by the way this old man was visibly energised by his work, smiling as he clicks away with his camera. Here the film makers do a good job, they follow Bill through the streets on his bicycle and show him running from the camera mid interview so that he can photograph somebody. My heart was warmed by the way he treated wealthy New York socialites the same way as eccentric dressers he meets on the street, he is genuinely interested in the clothes and not in his own opinions.

Underneath this picture of an aging workaholic legend is the question of his personal life. Well the short answer is that he doesn’t appear to have one, living alone in his small apartment packed with old negatives. This serves to make him even more interesting. Unfortunately time I felt could have been spent delving deeper in to who he is away from his passionate editing room was spent exploring his past and time at Carnegie Hall. While this is a worthwhile endeavour I thought that in an 84 minute film the priorities should differ. I later learnt that there is in fact a full documentary based on Carnegie Hall and the struggles of its residents (including Bill) to stop from being evicted (also covered in this film), and I intend to watch it.

However there are still enough glimpses into Bill’s mind to make this a good documentary. We learn that he thinks of fashion as “the armour to survive everyday life”, which begs the question what does Bill need to be protected from? Well just before the end of this film Bill is asked 2 questions by the filmmakers, one of them provokes a little laughter and the other almost causes him to break down and cry. This is really well done, it is not vicious or exploitative, he is asked honest questions and always valued as the intelligent man that he obviously is, even though the youthful energy he possesses combined with his older face sometimes combine to make him seem innocent or simple. I think we get to know Bill pretty well, without having to have his inner thoughts dragged out of him. The film makers are kind and don’t try to twist the story, they look for truth, as does Bill in his fashion column. I got what I wanted from this documentary and recommend it.