Review of Circo (2011) by Joe G — 09 Apr 2011

Even at a mere 75 minuets, Circo feels like a movie that runs out of steam pretty fast. Don't get me wrong, the family is interesting as is circus life in general, but after a while of their "this is all we know" schtick it felt repetitive.

It was also pretty clear the filmmaker wanted us to like the family, which doesn't really make for the informative documentary I was looking for. In other words, while we may think it would be a pretty forced and unfurling life for the kids, the film seems to side against the mother when she takes them away.

At the same time, we are given very little information on how they receive, take car of, and afford the different animals. Perhaps it's the peta member in me (that's a joke, I hate peta as much as the next guy), but the second I hear "circus" I think about the mistreatment of animals.

The fact that we never see any treatment of the animals at all makes this film seem like it's lacking. Also lacking is the exploration of many of the "characters". We are given the written name of them all, but few are explored.

The cinematography is pretty good and the music really fits the feel of the movie, but those things alone can't save it from being a bit of a dud.