The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: March 31, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
31
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleJoel Selvin
A one-of-a-kind cinematic experience. This musician may not be a genius along the lines of Brain Wilson, as Feuerzeig claims, but Johnston has a knack for revealing innermost thoughts in an offhand way that is eerie and uncanny. Read full review
100
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
The offhand wit and casual self-revelation of Johnston's best words draw you deeper into the mysteries of his character. Feuerzeig is a music-lover to his bones. Read full review
100
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Feuerzeig's film - everything a good documentary should be - is a story of family, friendship, art and fame, as seen through the prisms of exceptional beauty and deepest pain. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
By the time Feuerzeig gets to his final shot--an artful portrait of Johnston's parents, with their son looming over them like a curse--he's emerged with the most harrowing and aesthetically keen portrait of madness and artistic inspiration since "Crumb." Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Whatever one's opinion of Johnston's art, this is documentary filmmaking at its finest. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
With humor, honesty and awe, Feuerzeig's portrait may love Daniel Johnston, but it won't give his parents much hope. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerDan DeLuca
There are frightening moments, as when he attacks an elderly woman he thinks is possessed by devils. And revelatory, heartbreaking ones, which can make you think that maybe he is a genius, after all. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
No wonder Kurt Cobain was a fan. But it's the way Feuerzeig walks with him on the line between creativity and madness that digs this haunting and hypnotic film into your memory. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The casual listener is easily put off, but by the end of the film, even a newcomer can see the magic that made fans of Kurt Cobain and Sonic Youth and led the estimable Yo La Tengo, Pearl Jam and Wilco to cover Johnston's remarkable body of work. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
You wouldn't want to be Daniel Johnston, or even know him too well. But see this film and you won't forget him. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A fascinating and lovingly crafted musical documentary that nevertheless misunderstands its own subject. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Chronicles the eerie and oddly inspiring story of Johnston's ongoing battles to survive - both as artist and human being. Read full review
80
EmpireSteve O'Hagan
Occasionally slides into a breathless fan tribute, but nonetheless an affectionate and candid portrait of a troubled artist. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Jeff Feuerzeig's tremendous documentary runs on the motive force of intelligent fandom and radiates an ineffable grace. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyGreg Burk
Some of his mystical encounters are just too spooky and amazing to reveal here, and Feuerzeig (director of previous documentaries on Jon Hendricks and Half Japanese) weaves them into the story with excellent timing and a psychedelic eye, aided by editor Tyler Hubby and cinematographer Fortunato Procopio. Read full review
80
The New York TimesLawrence Van Gelder
Jeff Feuerzeig, who won the best-director award at the 2005 Sundance festival, cobbles together a moving portrait of the artist as his own ghost, using a wealth of material provided by Mr. Johnston, from home movies to audiocassette diaries to dozens of original, and often heartbreakingly beautiful, songs. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRaoul Hernandez
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. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Jeff 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 full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
With more sympathy for Johnston's suffering and less reveling in the fruits of his madness, The Devil and Daniel Johnston could have been a great film instead of a disturbing one. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Watching the movie, I was reminded of the documentary "Crumb"...There is a line that sometimes runs between genius and madness, sometimes encircles them. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
An uncomfortably fascinating document of a man whose bipolar disorder and artistic ambitions are inextricably connected. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Feuerzeig presents an unyieldingly sympathetic but always fascinating portrait of an artist whose mental illness became inseparable from his art, with one often fueling the other. Read full review
75
PremiereGlenn Kenny
One thing not open to question is that the real heroes of this movie are Johnston's family, particularly his aging parents, who for all their heartbreak are palpably full of love and forbearance for their disturbed and, yes, talented boy. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
You don't have to be a fan of Daniel Johnston, an underground artist and singer-songwriter whose manic-depression has kept him from realizing his full potential, to appreciate director Jeff Feuerzeig's documentary. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Johnston's childish, repetitive tunes prove that he's no Brian Wilson (or even Roky Erickson), which makes you wonder whether Feuerzeig is examining the singer's exploitation or participating in it. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverMelissa Levine
In many ways, The Devil and Daniel Johnston is a beautiful work, a painstakingly crafted portrait of a talented self-saboteur--a man consistently done in by a vicious mental illness. But it's not as compelling as one would hope. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Devil leads us into that dark, uncharted valley where evil, genius, divine inspiration, insanity -- and other unfathomable mysteries -- commingle. It also examines the hyperbolic industry of instant celebrity and ultimately shows us the complex algebraic equation that is Daniel Johnston's life. Read full review
70
Film ThreatDaniel Wible
With this film, I believe that the strange and wonderful legend of Daniel Johnston will only continue to grow. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Surprisingly diverting as a case study: not only of a talented misfit sublimating like mad to keep his loneliness from consuming him but also of a fringe artistic community (which includes the makers of this film) that rallies to give him the reinforcement he craves. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
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 full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Feuerzeig leaves a lot of territory unexplored. Why did people overlook his suffering and bizarre behavior for so long? Were they cold-hearted profiteers, onlookers enjoying a freak show or honestly ignorant of his troubles? Are there links between Johnston's creativity and madness? Read full review
60
VarietyDennis Harvey
Picture is particularly well-crafted, managing to avoid the ambulance-chasing tenor that might easily have turned this into a voyeuristic freakshow. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A performer of formidable self-absorption, Johnston has inspired a film with the same trait, and the results are about what you might expect. Read full review
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