Critics reviews

[Johnston] comes across as a version of both Robert and Charles Crumb, handily illustrating, in one man, both sides of the coin formed when art butts up against madness... Regardless of one's personal opinion, The Devil And Daniel Johnston fascinates. It's a portrait of a singular life that improbably touched millions, whether or not it did so for the "right" reasons.

Feuerzeig 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.

The songs are so nervously alive that it's hard to distance yourself from the fragile soul who wrote them. Johnston's pulse beats so close to the surface that its thrumming is sometimes difficult to bear.

Shot mostly on richly hued Super 16 and stitching together a chaotic life with nary a seam showing, Jeff Feuerzeig's tremendous documentary runs on the motive force of intelligent fandom and radiates an ineffable grace.