The Zookeeper's Wife


The real-life story of one working wife and mother who became a hero to hundreds during World War II. In 1939 Poland, Antonina Żabińska (portrayed by two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain) and her husband, Dr. Jan Żabiński (Johan Heldenbergh), have the Warsaw Zoo flourishing under his stewardship and her care. When their country is invaded by the Nazis, Jan and Antonina are stunned – and forced to report to the Reich’s newly appointed chief zoologist, Lutz Heck (Daniel Brühl). To fight back on their own terms, Antonina and Jan covertly begin working with the Resistance – and put into action plans to save lives out of what has become the Warsaw Ghetto, with Antonina putting herself and even her children at great risk.

I was enjoying this movie and the story very much for the first 3/4 of the movie even though it takes you to a time that I try to think about as little as possible.  They did a good job of taking you there and you felt rooted in the importance of what the characters were doing to help and what not.  For some reason the last 1/4 of the movie just felt very rushed.  It was like they took all this time to develop everything and then flew through all the payoff and what not.  It was kind of disappointing at the end of what really was a great movie.

I would still recommend people checking this out.  It's definitely an enjoyable watch but just kind of disappointing towards the end with the quick rush for closure and what not.