While the insane details of manic-depressive pop savant Daniel Johnston's troubled life make for gripping viewing, the best thing about Jeff Feuerzeig's excellent documentary is his refusal to romanticize Johnston's mental illness. Instead of banal commentary about an artist and the society who just doesn't get him, Feuerzeig presents Johnston for what he is: a talented but deeply tormented singer-songwriter who, in the process of writing childlike songs about Casper the Friendly Ghost, King Kong and a boxer named Joe, finds words for a pain and isolation few are unlucky enough to experience. Feuerzeig begins by tracing this "outsider" musician's seemingly ordinary W...
Released:
2004
Rated:
NR
Length:
110 mins