SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

aquascape This biographical tearjerker might leave you split up in two: one part shedding tears over the animals in the zoo and the other part over the fellow men hunted by the Third Reich."The Zookeeper's Wife" tells the true horrifying story of the crimes committed in the Warsaw Zoo during the Nazi occupation of a war-torn Poland. Jessica Chastain plays the main character who together with her husband Jan Zabinski, played brilliantly by Belgian actor Johan Heldenbergh, save thousands of Jews from the arms of the Nazi regime.The movie felt like it did not draw enough attention to the animals and I believe that's what made the premise appealing in the first place. No one would think of how animals reacted to the atrocities of World War II and this film could have been the chance to do it. Instead it heavily features the refugees, a depiction that has been painted many times on the silver screen."The Zookeeper's Wife" is a decent film, but ultimately it doesn't stand out from others within the genre.

drock2020 Why was it called zookeeper's wife and not just zookeepers? He appeared to be just as heroic if not more so.

Maria D I just loved this film. The animals deepened my perspective on this horrific historical period. In many ways they symbolize mankind's inclination to impose cruelty and spread hate to the most innocent, the most loving beings. To see corruption imposed on the most undeserving made me reach a level of empathy and emotion I never even knew I had. The enormity of evil of the human race is depicted through these animals and their reaction to the bombs, their fear and inability to understand what is happening really shows how distorted and disturbing and disconnected war is from all living things and this movie really shows how in so many ways we are one of the weakest and most cowardly species on this planet.

calvinnme I enjoyed The Zookeeper's Wife and would recommend it to most audiences. Skillful direction by Niki Caro, excellent sets and costumes, a slightly washed-out look to the cinematography which nonetheless has a full range of color, and a capable cast. The story is based on the actions of the owners of the Warsaw Zoo, who saved the lives of more than three hundred Jews during the Nazi occupation of Poland.Nonetheless, the performance of Jessica Chastain is the single most important factor in the film. Unlike many American actors, she understands that a Polish woman of the 1940s does not look, move, or carry her features like a contemporary American. So fully does Miss Chastain inhabit her character that I never had the sense of an actress making choices.The film is a bit long and a bit slow, like most films today, but not to a damaging extent. I particularly admired the way that the official from the Berlin Zoo who becomes a Nazi officer, well played by Daniel Bruhl, has certain scruples and personal moral standards although he embraces the Nazi philosophy. He's a villain, but not a cardboard villain, and part of the suspense of the film is waiting to see which lines he will cross and which he won't.