Dames F This documentary shows Nilsson had a great deal of love in his life. The women whom he loved seem warm and wonderful, and his children to be likable people.It is not the fault of the subjects that this documentary disappoints; It is solely the responsibility of the film maker (s).The questions reveal that the documentary makers have not approached the subject with an open mind ( Nowhere is this more apparent than when Nilsson's 3rd wife,Una, speaks about his crusade for gun control.) and instead feel they need to create, or inject, a synthetic story arc. Whilst so doing, they poor scorn on Harry's attempt to fight the violence of hand guns by editing the answers given to suit their own narrative.The film is itself, as it supposes of much of Nilsson's life, a missed opportunity.

jayraskin Harry Nilsson was a major singer-songwriter in the 1960's to the 1980's. He wrote songs with great tunes and cute or funny lyrics, a lot like Cole Porter.I remember going into a record store and seeing an album with a promo sticker stuck on it quoting John Lennon saying that Nilsson was his favorite new American singer. I bought the album and was deeply impressed.This is a nice and loving documentary that traces his career from working as a bank clerk to sudden stardom and success to hard partying to bankruptcy and way-too-young death at age 52.Some reviewers here noted that there is not enough of Nilsson's music in the movie. We just hear snatches of most of his hits with only a few complete songs. That's a fair criticism. I was especially disappointed that his great hit "Best Friend," which was the theme song for the beautiful 1970's television series "Courtship of Eddie's Father," was missing. It is my favorite Nilsson song.Still, since it is unlikely another documentary on Nilsson will be made, this is a must-see for his fans. For those who were born too late for the '60s and have not heard of him, I think you'll enjoy it enough to start searching out his music.

nv-11 I just happened on this incredible documentary on Netflix. I always loved Harry Nilsson's music but I never knew anything about him. This documentary is really an extensive work of art, compiling all the film footage about Harry and the people who knew him best. Particularly interesting was the recording studio footage and old movies of him performing. For all the music he wrote and performed and for all the famous musicians that he ran with, I just don't ever remember hearing about him, (in the tabloids and the like) only his music. Who knew he lived life on the edge? Too bad this documentary didn't get much publicity, as it is truly excellent. Most of the people that can remember his music will truly never know who is the guy behind all those wonderful songs with that melancholy melodious voice. Thank you for showing some of us who Harry Nilsson was, the guy behind Everybody's Talking but not about Harry.

roland-104 Biodoc on the enigmatic singer/songwriter who, according to friends' accounts, spent the last 15 years of his relatively short life seemingly on a mission of self-destruction. He died at 52, overweight and dissipated, of heart disease, after a protracted rampage of virtually non-stop overindulgence in alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana and cocaine, raucous partying, and flagrant misuse of his vocal instrument (he confided to a friend that he shouted out his lyrics at one performance with such force that spattered blood was left on the microphone).All of this despite the fact that he was: (1) widely considered to have perhaps the most gifted pop singing ability of his generation; (2) successful, after years of effort, in terms of industry acclaim - a Grammy, an Oscar, a decent recording contract with a top label, and at least two stellar albums - 'Nilsson Schmilsson' (originals), and 'A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night' (standards); and (3) very happily married (for the third time), with a lovely young family that he seemed to adore.The film's strengths begin with the completeness of its account of Nilsson's life, including fine use of archival film footage and many stills of Nilsson; the editors do an especially good job of bringing movement to the stills. We learn of his close ties to John Lennon and, later, Ringo Starr (Lennon often said that Nilsson was his favorite American musician).Even more impressive are the talking heads, often a documentary's weakest aspect. Here we get people like Perry Botkin, Jr., Ray Cooper, Mickey Dolenz, Terry Gilliam, Mark Hudson, Eric Idle, Rick Jarrard, Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, Jimmy Webb and Robin Williams, all telling amazing stories about Nilsson – many uproariously funny, others deeply pathetic - and everyone conveying their deep affection for him. Equally informative and moving are interview segments with Nilsson's wives – Annie and Una, his son Zach, and cousin Doug Hoefer. Best set of heads I can recall in a biodoc.The most glaring deficiency of the film is that it crowds out Nilsson's music. Even the performance of his greatest hit, "Without You," is cut short after about 8 bars. Arrrrgh!! There is no excuse for this, not given that the movie runs a full two hours as it is. Lose a few head shots and we could have heard at least that song through, and perhaps one or two more, like "One," or his Oscar winning cover of "Everybody's Talking.'" The filmmakers are simply too intent on plumbing Nilsson's psychological mystique and not attentive enough to his music. My grades: 7.5/10 (low B+) (Seen at the NWFC's Reel Music series, 01/07/07)