Of all the outsider geniuses in rock music's crowded compendium, there are few more deserving of a lovingly crafted, silver-screen tribute than the absurdly brilliant Daniel Johnston. With a list of fans that reads like a who's who of '90s alternative rock (see: Beck, Pearl Jam, and most notably Kurt Cobain, among countless others), the regularly institutionalized Johnston is also one of the most talented and prolific pop songwriters in all of independent rock music; whether anyone actually owns any of his records is another matter, however.

With his Sundance award-winning documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, director Jeff Feuerzeig tackles the truths and the fabrications of the man and his mythology with an impressively thorough hand. Feuerzeig's seemingly boundless access and attention to biographical detail makes for a surprisingly enlightening companion to Johnston's discography.

It's a bittersweet reality that most well-crafted outsider artist documentaries like The Devil and Daniel Johnston will inevitably find a bigger audiences than any subjects they profile—and in spite of the fact that Feuerzeig makes just about the best case imaginable for Johnston's genius, it's still difficult to imagine even a small fraction of moviegoers being moved enough to actually invest themselves in his discography. For all of its successes, The Devil and Daniel Johnston's only major failing is how little it does to refute the curio factor that has long dogged Johnston's career. Despite a great deal of current footage of his (now obese and heavily medicated) subject, Feuerzeig further alienates by leaving most of the narrative of Johnston's life in the hands of those around him rather than the man himself—a small complaint for such a lovingly crafted tribute.