Cat City - Documentary Review

The Documentary: Cat City

The Director: Ben Kolak

The Story: A feature documentary chronicling Chicago's love/hate relationship with feral cats. It tells the story of Chicago's outdoor cats, the communities who look after them, and the ordinance that protects them.

The Rating: 6 / 10

The Review:

Any movie involving cats and I'm there whether it's a documentary or a feature film. If the run time is filled with furry felines, you know I'm going to enjoy it on some level. This documentary, directed by Ben Kolak, dives deep into the world of feral cats on the streets of the greater Chicago area. Just as I hoped, we get to see all kinds of cats from newborns being carefully brought along to veteran street cats who have lived some very interesting, and sometimes dangerous, lives in the neighborhoods of what is commonly known as Cat City.

While I wasn't blown away by any of the information being presented here, Kolak's story telling does a great job of presenting a lot of the pros and cons of Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) efforts when it comes to the abundance of stray and feral cats. Do we protect them or do we get rid of them? Do they help the ecosystem or are they harmful to it? A lot of great questions are raised and, while there are no easy answers, it's hard to imagine wanting to just do away with any of these little bundles of cuteness.

I think this would also be a great compaion piece with Mye Hoang's Cat Daddies documentary which explores some of the same topics with an emphasis on men who have chosen to take in and take care of their fur babies. If you are a cat lover, you will definitely want to check out both of these documentaries because they are both full of fantastic felines on film and it's always nice to learn a little more about what's going on in the world and how cats are being taken care of and accepted as part of the world we live in.