Synopsis
DANNY SAYS is a documentary unveiling the amazing journey of Danny Fields. Fields has played a pivotal role in music and culture with seminal acts including: the Doors, the Velvet Underground, the Stooges, MC5, Nico, the Ramones and beyond.
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Cast
- Danny FieldsSelf
- John CaleSelf (archive footage)
- Alice CooperSelf
- Wayne KramerSelf
- John Cameron MitchellSelf
- Paul MorrisseySelf (archive footage)
- NicoSelf (archive footage)
- Iggy PopSelf
- Tommy RamoneSelf
- Lou ReedSelf (archive footage)
Recommendations
- 100
San Francisco Chronicle
Director Brendan Toller uses archive footage and droll animation that keep the stories revelatory and entertaining. - 90
Los Angeles Times
What emerges is a rich portrait of one of 20th century pop culture’s great facilitators, whose keen observations, quirky personality and natural affinity for the outré helped greatness happen. - 75
The A.V. Club
A bunch of Fields’ war stories are rendered with simple animations, and while those aren’t as effective as the dozens of great photographs that dot the film, they do break up what might otherwise be an overly talky doc. - 63
Movie Nation
Which is what this film actually lacks, provocation. The film celebrates him, but the lack of critical mulling over from people who aren’t in his fan club doesn’t keep him from seeming somewhat unlikeable. - 63
Slant Magazine
It ends on a muted whimper of a note that one doesn't expect given that the film's subject is such an immensely entertaining raconteur. - 60
Village Voice
Toller's film is narrated entirely by Fields via a series of lengthy recorded interviews that unwind jerkily, like a misshapen bolt of yarn over hundreds of still photos, Super-8 footage, and hand-drawn animations. - 50
IndieWire
If there’s any interiority to Fields, Toller isn’t interested in finding it; Danny Says would much rather provide the umpteenth account of Andy Warhol’s social circle (to mention but one of the movie’s many asides) than dig beneath the dirt in an attempt to learn more about one of the key figures who helped shape that scene. - 50
The New York Times
If Mr. Fields’s contributions to pop music deserve more fame, the movie plays like an overcorrection, a spirited but repetitive testament to one man’s excellent taste.
