Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic

'Tiger King', a trashy documentary about decidedly trashy people, was one of the hit television series of last year. It's star, who ended up convicted of attempted murder by the time shooting was finished, called himself Joe Exotic, and had in fact been chasing fame through outrageousness for many years. Louis Theroux, who often makes films about apparent weirdos, had featured him in one of his own efforts way back in 2011 - this was not someone who was ever camera shy. In this film, Theroux revisits his old material, when Joe was crazy but not that crazy, and reflects on the subsequent story. Theroux's style is the opposite of the makers of the later series; he tries to allow people to show themselves in their best light, even though that was never really Joe's brand. Whereas 'Tiger King' never felt fair, this film feels much less exploitative. Ultimately, Exotic was a wild guy, and the rest of the world is probably a better place for his incarceration. But he was a very human sort of monster, and one who can still command the small screen.

As always, Louis Theroux brings out another amazing documentary showing the insights of certain industries and lifestyles.

Here he shows the other side of the Tiger King documentary with unseen footage from a 2011 with Joe himself.

This just might change your view on Joe Exotic or make your opinion even stronger.

I definitely recommend you watch this if you haven't already.

I am biased because I think everything Louie does is an instant classic and this doesn't disappoint! Wonderful reflection on his earlier documentary and what's happened in this case.

Netflix shut him down from talking to pretty much everyone except Carole, so it just a culmination of unaired footage. But it's unaired for a reason.

Over half of this documentary is a review of both Theroux's first interview with Joe Exotic and the series that catapulted him to international fame, Tiger King. It's revealed why this time filler is necessary during the programme however it still feels as if they could better have filled an hour slot instead of the 90 minutes.

Nevertheless, the new content reveals interesting legal issues ongoing and the fate of Exotic's infamous zoo. Overall, an apt review of the first COVID-19 lockdown phenomenon of 2020 but feels a little tiresome at times.