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Reviews Counted:102
Fresh:90
Rotten:12
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: Whether you think this mentally ill cult musician is worthy of being called a "genius," this document of his life is crafted with sincere respect and is fascinating to watch.
Theatrical Release:05-05-2006
Synopsis: Although his appeal barely stretches beyond a small band of obsessives in the tight-knit indie-rock community, the turbulent career of singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston has had more highs and lows... [More]
Rock 'n' roll's capacity for recycling legend means the stories of Johnston's life, and the way in which they're told, could easily fall into cliché. Instead they are original, engrossing and sometimes heartbreaking.
Top CriticTouching, funny and sad.
Occasionally slides into a breathless fan tribute, but nonetheless an affectionate and candid portrait of a troubled artist.
Top CriticThe troubled singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston is the subject of an entertaining documentary.
Top CriticAs a demonstration of how to put a life on screen, it is exemplary in its thoroughness and willingness to allow a multiplicity of views.
To share Feuerzeig’s loving investigation is to share an insightful study of the destructive and creative capabilities of the mind.
Top CriticHeartbreaking, funny and inspirational, in equal measure - it'll also make you want to buy at least one Daniel Johnston album and you'll probably find yourself singing Casper the Friendly Ghost for the rest of the day.
A fascinating look at this epically tortured artist.
Though Feuerzeig's film isn't quite successful at underlining what exactly it is about Johnston's childlike art that makes him so appealing, the documentary works superbly at proving Johnston is insane.
The Devil and Daniel Johnston is an unflinching yet loving look at the outsider musician's life. It's also the most revealing look at genius and mental illness since Terry Zwigoff's 1994 documentary Crumb.
...works as a biographical sketch of the artist as madman and as a meditation on the prerogatives of genius.
Feuerzeig was able to fashion such a thorough, engaging film partly because aficionados such as Lee Renaldo of Sonic Youth shot so much footage of Johnston performing and acting out.
At the end of the day, Johnston's childlike stream of unrequited love landed him on MTV, Atlantic Records, and now a feature-length theatrical recounting of his life. Take that, Satan.
Returns repeatedly to the tangled relationship between hipsters and the out-of-control oddballs they enable.
Feuerzeig's film is as good a portrait of the artist as a beloved basket case as you'll see, but it's kept from greatness by the questions it refuses to ask itself.
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You don't need to be Einstein to know that not all geniuses are mad. More to the relative point, not all madmen are geniuses.
Brilliantly illustrates how Johnston's innate musical genius was virtually inseparable from his illness.
"The Devil and Daniel Johnston" is really something special, avoiding easy answers, skirting the expected cliches, drawing us deeper into the life of a fascinating and complex man.
Jeff Feuerzeig, who won the best director award at Sundance 2005 for this film, has started with a subject who has filmed himself and been filmed by others for more than 20 years.
Top Critic
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