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ZOO (2018)
Director: Colin McIvor Cast: Art Parkinson, Emily Flain, Ian O'Reilly, Penelope Wilton, Toby Jones, Amy Huberman, James Stockdale, Damian O'Hare, Stephen Hagan, Ian McElhinney MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:37 Release Date: 6/8/18 (limited) |
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Capsule review by Mark Dujsik | June 7, 2018 It wasn't a trio of kids who saved an elephant calf from the Belfast Zoo in 1941, as German bombs began falling, but the story of Zoo did, more or less, happen. The movie's version of the true story reduces the role of the actual "elephant angel," as the zookeeper who kept the elephant in her backyard came to be called, to a reclusive older woman, who is obsessed with animals and helps the fictional kids in their quest to save an innocent animal. We don't go to the movies for history as it actually happened, though, and in fairness, writer/director Colin McIvor clearly has a point to shifting focus from the real elephant savior to his account's protagonists. Here's a family-friendly telling of the terror of the German air raids, the effects of seeing a parent go off to war, and the bond that can arise under great strife. It's tricky material, and one almost wonders if McIvor started with his story of kids in wartime and added the elephant later, as a way to make the tale more tenable. Either way, the movie follows Tom (Art Parkinson), Jane (Emily Flain), and Pete (Ian O'Reilly) as they make a nighttime rescue of Buster, the baby elephant, and hide the animal in the backyard of Denise Austin (Penelope Wilton), who, in reality, was the elephant's rescuer. The screenplay gives the kids a lot with which to deal in between caring for the elephant: Tom's father (played by Damian O'Hare) has gone off to war, Jane's father is an abusive alcoholic, and Pete bullies other kids to keep his own home life a secret. This feels like two separate and very distinct stories being told, and McIvor doesn't delve deeply enough into the lives of the kids to find a connection between those stories. We gather that Tom sees Buster as an esoteric stand-in for his father (If he can save the elephant, his dad might have a chance), but the adventures involving the elephant stand in the way of exploring how these kids cope with the constant terror of bombs at home and potentially dead family members at war. Zoo has a genuine heart, and it sincerely wants the audience to understand the war's toll on these young characters. The issue is, as the old cliché goes, that certain animal in the room. Copyright © 2018 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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(for thematic elements, some war action and language)
