The Devil and Daniel Johnston 2006

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: A heartbreaking, yet strangely uplifting and inspirational, exploration of the fine line between genius and madness, and how sometimes, one becomes impossible to discern from the other. Read more

Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune: Feuerzeig recounts it all with clear-eyed candor, turning to Johnston's battered friends and family for insight and empathy and to Johnston's tapes and drawings for an inside look at his illness. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: I found the documentary surprisingly diverting as a case study. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Regardless of how you feel about Johnston's art, The Devil and Daniel Johnston is worth seeing as a poignant portrait of a troubled life, still in the making. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: It doesn't condescend [to Johnston], it doesn't exploit him. It just tells us about his life. Read more

Bob Townsend, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 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. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: Returns repeatedly to the tangled relationship between hipsters and the out-of-control oddballs they enable. Read more

Michael Senft, Arizona Republic: 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. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: 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. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Devil turns out to be too indulgent and worshipful a film to justify its length (one hour and 50 minutes, including an interminable section on Johnston in high school), much less hold our attention for the duration. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: A searing, compassionate portrait of chronic mental illness. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Director Jeff Feuerzeig, extensively utilizing home movies, chronicles the eerie and oddly inspiring story of Johnston's ongoing battles to survive -- both as artist and human being. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The Devil and Daniel Johnston is a fascinating and lovingly crafted musical documentary that nevertheless misunderstands its own subject. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: This well-done documentary will explain why Johnston has never been able to rise above cult status ... Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: An inspired piece of work by someone who knows and admires Mr. Johnston but doesn't cover up the warts. It's also the rare documentary possessed with an artistry that transcends its subject. Read more

Greg Burk, L.A. Weekly: [Johnston's] story opens a window on the nature of art and the power of myth. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: [The film] may be a paean to a lost 'genius,' but it is also a gritty, involving, warts-and-all tale of celebrity and psychosis that leaves a likely unanswerable question: Were the naive songs of Johnston's youth a window into his soul, or his disease? Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Everything a good documentary should be. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: 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. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: As its title suggests, the picture is something of a ballad, an ode to an elusive character who's both quintessentially human and so outlandish he almost seems unreal. Read more

Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle: Whether Johnston is a genius or a wonderful anomaly remains to be seen, but director Jeff Feuerzeig has stitched together a detailed portrait of the artist's life and music that is never less than compelling. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Perhaps Feuerzeig wanted to get away from the stereotypical 'talking head' interview, but by having the subject stop periodically to rinse and spit? Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: ... an uncomfortably fascinating document of a man whose bipolar disorder and artistic ambitions are inextricably connected. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: The Devil and Daniel Johnston is a movie about a man whose demons live with him always, but who has somehow found a way of speaking that can still be heard above the din in his head. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: To share Feuerzeig's loving investigation is to share an insightful study of the destructive and creative capabilities of the mind. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: Pic is particularly well-crafted, managing to avoid the ambulance-chasing tenor that might easily have turned this into a voyeuristic freakshow. Read more

Jessica Winter, Village Voice: The documentary holds no illusions about insanity as a career move; there's a whiff of the freak show in Johnston's latter-day concerts but never in Feuerzeig's approach. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Devil leads us into that dark, uncharted valley where evil, genius, divine inspiration, insanity -- and other unfathomable mysteries -- commingle. Read more