As Good As It Gets

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Blistering performances.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

A compelling and watchable film because of the constant attempts of the men involved to justify their bestiality. Defending the indefensible is so sad and so amazing. The pervert blames everyone but himself. Why did the group try so hard to suppress all evidence of their wrongdoing if they thought it was right? Why did they try to vilify the media, the authorities, the family of the dead man? You won't be able to turn away, but you might not believe your eyes and ears.

How should one approach a film that ostensibly cracks open, one of the last, shameful taboos of a modern society? Most likely reason for anyone's interest in Zoo will be its daring theme. But it's neither a study of bestiality nor one man's fascination with it. Zoo tries to reach deeper, beyond a single event. It's attempt is admirable but film itself lapses into deep uncertainty about its intentions.Zoo follows the tragic death of Kenneth Pinyan, who in July of 2005 bled to death after suffering a perforated colon due to an anal penetration by a full-sized stallion. Pinyan's death, led to a legal prohibition of sexual intercourse with animals in the state of Washington and enraged the authorities, seeking for the responsible of an assumed animal abuse.It's a film of uncanny, spellbinding beauty. But each skilfully composed frame, actually takes us further away from a problem that is essentially, less philosophical and more academic. Its controversy escalates on the grounds of state and social conduct and although is touched upon in the film, through numerous fragments of radio commentaries, it is never truly pursued. Devor instead, seems to be fascinated by a mythical connection of a man and an animal and the emotional substitute it becomes for otherwise desolate human relationships. The idea seems forced upon the unclear events leading to Pinyan's death and with the lack of any substantial reasoning, simply very silly.In his inversion of Jungian animus into the conscious and an attempt on spiritual rationalization, film, ironically, looses most of its humane values. Exploration of Pinyan's motives only comes from people who are unable to closely relate to him and therefore consist a relevant source. And because the subject matter will seem vulgar, disturbing or for some deeply inappropriate, viewer is left with no real understanding of his actions and no real clue as to who Pinyan was. Haunting visuals are bedazzling but without any true narrator it is easy to quickly lose track of the numerous characters and the order of the events. This leaves little interest in the event itself as we have to constantly struggle to separate dreamy fiction from the truth and often, make out our own sense of what Devor is showing.Because of its oniric form, as a microscopic exploration of a single event on its spiritual plain Zoo might emerge as deeply meaningful, even nuisansical but it inevitably delivers too little of a wider context, for its documentary zest. Its greatest fault is how insubstantial it is. At the end we are left more confused than enlightened.Verdict: It's more tender and restrained than its controversial content might suggest. But it's also convoluted, hard to follow, and ultimately, not thorough enough, to provide a relevant spectrum of Pinyan's fascination. But its stunning imagery is bedazzling and unforgettable. More of a provocative meditation than intellectual clash, Zoo is an art-house documentary that for many will be hard to swallow rather for its nebulous form, than the bold theme.2.5/5

Do you love horses? If so, then you'll probably want to check out this documentary, because it's about a bunch of guys who, just like you, love horses. They love the way you can see all those powerful muscles on display, working in tangent to create such a gracious, majestic stride. They love the affectionate nature of these beasts as they nuzzle up to you and blow satisfied gusts of hot air from their nostrils. They love to put their hands against a stallion's testicles and feel the sensual heat emanating from those glorious globes. Most of all, they love all that feral energy when there's a two foot horse-cock jack-hammering away at their insides, sending waves of sexual bliss through every part of their bod... Heeeey... Wait a second. This isn't about animal lovers. It's about perverts! Well, that should make for a much more interesting doco, right? Eh, afraid not.First up, this movie looks and sounds amazing. It's loaded with beautifully constructed imagery and evocative music, so it's quite a feast for the senses. But that's not enough to make a good documentary. There's a lot of voice-over work from the zoophiles and others, but none of it really offers any insight into the subject matter. Much of it is just these guys talking about how they discovered and connected with other folk with similarly rare sexual proclivities. And they talk about loving horses. That doesn't interest me. Hell, I like horses; I just don't want to have sex with one. And there's never any discussion about the line where this love for animals becomes sexual. So, whilst the whole thing is nice to look at, ultimately it fails as a documentary, simply because I didn't learn a damn thing.One issue the movie does inevitably bring up is the whole morality of the situation. Let's admit it, the idea of a guy wanting to be boned by a horse is fairly sick and disgusting. But more importantly, it's also really, really funny, so I wasn't too concerned. There's a minor reference involving a horse giving a blow job to another horse, suggesting that these guys trained horses to put on sexual performances for them. That's a touch more worrying but, once again, the mental image of a bunch of dudes having a circle-jerk to some wicked horse-on-horse action is just so damn hilarious that I'm unable to work up any moral outrage.Fact is, the horses weren't hurt, physically or emotionally, in any way. Are the actions of these guys any more exploitative than training a horse to run real fast so we can all place bets on it? Nope, don't think so. So, if you watch this movie, then enjoy all the sumptuous visuals, but don't judge these guys too harshly because, at the end of the day, they're just harmless perves. Aren't we all?

This documentary, which tells the story of a man who died after an encounter with a horse, does go some way to presenting the views of both zoos (people who have an affinity with animals which stretches to engaging sexually with them) and animal welfare experts. However it does not present anything salacious or revealing, nor does it go into any real analysis of why some people have these needs and feelings.As an investigative documentary, I feel it fails on this level. As a piece of sensationalism, it fails - as there's nothing here really to offend. It's a shocking story in many ways but the way it is presented is so detached you can't feel anything for the people involved, even a slight curiosity or interest.