Although he never became the kind of international superstar someone with his remarkable skills should have, Harry Nilsson was arguably the most respected singer, songwriter, and record maker of the '70s, winning a pair of Grammys for his covers of "Everybody's Talkin'," and "Without You." This documentary features archival footage of the quirky performer, and copious new interviews with contemporaries who discuss his outrageous behavior and his formidable talent. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
The point of it is not, in the end, to explain him or solve the mystery of his life, but rather to spend time in his company and understand why he is someone to be missed.
Sticking closely to the archival footage and talking-heads formula, it's the quality of the former and the sense of personal involvement in the latter that elevates the film above the run-of-the-mill rockumentary.
John Sheinfeld's portrait revisits the man, the artist and the reputation, with a wealth of TV performance clips and interviews with friends, family and colleagues...
On the one hand, the film is a cautionary too-much-too-soon story that was a cliché even before what Casey Kasem refers to as the Rock Era; on the other hand, it also has enough touching, amusing and/or appalling episodes to make it compulsively watchable
There's been so little written about Nilsson or archiving of his work that Who Is Harry Nilsson is a godsend just for bringing together so much rare footage.
A very interesting look into the life of one of my favorite musicians. Nilsson's life seemed to be unlike anyone other's, including friendships with The Beatles, Robin Williams, and legendary producer Richard Perry. Exploring through Harry's music, accounts from his former friends, and even a voice over narration from
Nilsson himself, this proved to be one of the most interesting docs about a musical genius who has passed made.
requiem for a guy who almost wasn't famous. considered by many of his peers to be one of the finest singer/songwriters of his generation, his brief brush with success almost destroyed him. most remembered today for singing someone else's song which became the theme of the oscar winning film midnight cowboy, he
resolutely refused to tour or do anything conventionally. if you've heard the recent cee-lo hit fuck you, nilsson did something very similar--in 1972! a legendary party monster who counted the beatles among his close personal friends, he'll forever be a footnote in rock history if only because both 'mama' cass eliot and who drummer keith moon died in his london apartment, 4 years apart. he wasn't home either time and soon sold the cursed flat to pete townshend. the film gets a little overly sentimental towards the end but it's well worth seeing for the quality of first hand accounts from nilsson contemporaries and even nilsson himself, in a recently discovered autobiographical tape recording. he managed to outlive many of his friends and died in 1994 age 52, probably older than anyone expected back in the day.
November 9, 2010
Stella Dallas
Super Reviewer
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