Protraph Lack of good storyline.

ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

josephinesmith100 Firstly, I'm quite shocked by the negative reviews. This film stands up next to classics, in particular Schindler's List, to depict the horror of the Jewish suffering and violation in Eastern Europe in WW2. It is not so graphic but shows the lengths non-Jewish people went to, to save their fellow human beings. Intensely poignant and heartbreaking at times. Yes it's not all about zoo animals but that's not really the point. A tale worth telling, and very well told.

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.

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.

SnoopyStyle Antonina (Jessica Chastain) and Jan Zabinski run the Warsaw Zoo. She's a hands on zookeeper. When the war starts, the zoo is not spared. Nazi zoologist Lutz Heck convinces Antonina to transfer her prized animals to Berlin. The Zabinskis try to befriend Heck and convinces him to allow them to raise pigs in the zoo. This allows Jan access to the ghetto which he uses to save some 300 Jews right under Heck's nose.This is a solid Holocaust drama. It's not new but still very much worth telling. There are some heart strings pulled. Sometimes like the little kids is too much. I would still make a couple of changes. The accented English needs to be reduced if not eliminated all together. It's just silly to have characters speak English but in an accent. Chastain is doing too much accent. Everybody should speak in a neutral manner. The second change is the title. It is bland and weak. They could call it a Human Zoo and that would be much better. I can overlook most of that and there is a compelling story underneath.