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'The Devil and Daniel Johnston': A curious chronicle

Haven't we all been struck at a young age with the realization that we were destined to become famous? Certainly Daniel Johnston, a kid from Chester, W.Va., was and he doggedly pursued a variety of media — none of which he had any discernible talent for — until his ambitions were realized.

Sony Pictures Classics 'The Devil and Daniel Johnston' C The verdict: An oddly compelling biography of a disturbed man whose music and art have brought him fame. Director: Jeff Feuerzeig Cast: Daniel Johnston, Mabel Johnston, Bill Johnston, Kathy McCarty, Jeff Tartakov Run time: 110 minutes Release date: March 31, 2006 Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements, drug content, and language including a sexual reference. On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'The Devil and Daniel Johnston' Go see it 82.50% 33 Make it a matinee 5.00% 2 Wait to rent 0.00% 0 Don't bother 12.50% 5

His odyssey toward fame, which includes detours into mental institutions and jails, are chronicled with slavish devotion in the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. It is a look at the nexus of artistic temperament and madness, both of which are strong impulses in Johnston's life, particularly the latter when he opts not to take his medication.

It would help if the film also made the case for Johnston having some actual marketable skill, but then talent and celebrity do not necessarily go hand-in-hand. Although Johnston was composing his own songs and singing them into cassette tapes since junior high school, it took Nirvana's Kurt Kobain wearing a T-shirt with an image drawn by Johnston for him to gain the attention of record companies. They would them make pilgrimages to his mental hospital to negotiate contracts with him.

And today, it is Johnston's cartoon art, full of depictions of devils and eyeballs, that commands huge prices at gallery shows. Director Jeff Feuerzeig takes many of Johnston's own home movies and stitches them into a chronicle of his curious life.

There is something oddly compelling about The Devil and Daniel Johnston, but I am stumped to explain why anyone should care enough to watch it.