Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everyone Talkin' About Him?)

2010
Directed By John Scheinfeld


SYNOPSIS


A documentary tracing the rise and fall of singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson as told by people who knew him.

MY THOUGHTS

An engrossing and very entertaining warts-and-all tale of a complex and eccentric man.

If you are asking yourself "Who is Harry Nilsson?" Here are his three most famous songs:







or if you're a classic TV fan:


His family and lots of famous faces who were friends tell candid stories of the man including The Monkees' Mickey Dolenz, Monty Python's Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam, Yoko Ono, Beach Boy Brian Wilson, singer-songwriters Van Dyke Parks, Paul Williams and Randy Newman, and many others. Ample old interviews of the man himself detail his troubled early years as well as the highlights of his life.

 Ringo Starr, who was a close personal friend, oddly doesn't appear, and it's not explained why. (Though elsewhere it's revealed he was too close and Nilsson's death causes him too much pain to talk about him.)

One of the highlights of the film is of the infamous tale of a Smothers Brothers comeback show at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. They were heckled mercilessly by very intoxicated fans Nilsson and John Lennon, who both got bounced from the club. It is told by archive video of Lennon and a modern day interview of Tom and Dick Smothers. It's the best version of the story that I've heard.

The film thankfully doesn't gloss over Nilsson's many faults (self destructive behavior, his first two failed marriages, etc.) and this helps to give a three dimensional portrait of the man.

'Who Is Harry Nilsson' definitely shows off the man's genius and if you're a fan of singer-songwriters or The Beatles, or 60s + 70s music, certainly seek this one out. It's also available streaming on Netflix.