I can see why this film never really garnered a wide-release and was completely under the radar for any televised awards show. This film is worse than bad. It portrays the main characters as incompetent and idiotic instead of the brave and intelligent people that they were. But to be fair, this is due more to the awful writing than the performances (which were fine). The writing devolved a potentially gripping and dramatic story into melodramatic schlock. If you are looking for a good representation of the struggles of the holocaust, watch Schindler's List, Boy in the Striped Pajamas or read "Maus" or "Night"; please do not watch this garbage.

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.

GRADE: B-THE FILM IS RECOMMENDED.The Zookeeper 's Wife tells the important story of the Nazi Occupation in Poland and trivializes it with heavy handed sentimentality. The film tells the true story (with way too much melodrama) of Antonina and Jan Zabinski, zookeepers at the Warsaw Zoo, who decide to save some wild animals and many Jews from the Nazis during 1940 until 1945. The obvious symbolism of the newly caged Jews hidden within the walls of the zoo is not easily missed and probably the most subtle reference in this entire film. (Historically, the Zabinskis rescued nearly 300 Jews from their certain deaths.)The Zookeeper's Wife is a well made film, but the subject matter of the Holocaust and its systematic destruction of the Jewish people deserves a more realistic treatment. Although director Niki Caro earnestly tries to tell the story with serious intent, she overstates the obvious throughout the film. The simplistic screenplay by Angela Workman depicts Good vs. Evil in the broadest of terms. To her credit, Ms. Caro creates some powerful images and doesn't shy away from the ugly atrocities upon the Polish people but, the characters, in general, lack depth and rarely seem authentic. The actors play their roles with conviction. Jessica Chastain tackles the part of Antonina and she is a believable presence. As her stoic husband, Johan Heldenbergh is quite compelling. Daniel Bruhl balances his stock character, Lutz Heck, a Nazi sympathizer and animal lover, with a refreshing degree of nuance. He makes one believe in this conflicted man.However, too often, facts make way for fiction in this film adaptation for the sake of dramatic conflict. Though far from accurate, Lutz's infatuation with Antonina becomes a central issue of the story. Also a fine young actress named Shira Haas is cast as Urzula, a totally fictional character much maligned by the Nazi soldiers. While the actress is very effective in her supporting turn, one wishes the filmmakers stayed true to more historic accounts of real events.The Zookeeper's Wife has much to admire, if one can accept the oversimplifications and soap opera plotting presented as truth.

As others have written, we've seen this formula many times before: Righteous Christians put their lives in danger to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. As a Jew whose people came from Poland and Germany, I thank the Zookeeper and his wife. And yes, the usual Jew haters always show up on IMDb to claim the Holocaust is a fraud. Good luck with that.I liked this movie because it tells a story without going over the top, which many Holocaust movies do. The fact that it happens in a zoo makes it different.But it also must be said: The vast majority of Poles LOATHED the Jews and were thrilled to see the Germans murder them. Indeed, even after the war. Poles would pray upon freed concentration camp victims and murder them. A movie such as this shouldnt scrub the dirt from Polish hands.