We’re whores for just about any rock doc that hits the big screen, but the new film “The Devil and Daniel Johnston” is much, much more than that. The film is a painful, loving, and surprisingly moving document of an oddball artist’s life. It is also surprisingly well-executed and just may end up as one of the year’s best films.

We knew little about the life and music of Daniel Johnston prior to the film, but director Jeff Feuerzeig has crafted a wonderful biography that is both wildly human and wildly unbelievable. The doc tells the story of Daniel Johnston’s life, from his artistic beginnings in rural Vermont to his burgeoning music career in Austin, Texas where he becomes a local phenomenon on the strength of his child-like personality and self-made, self-illustrated, self-distributed cassette tapes. His music is a folky blend of Bright Eyes and The Flaming Lips, and his simple yet moving lyrics are frequently funny and often touching.

But despite all his musical success, Johnston begins to lose touch with reality. The progression happens slowly; after dropping acid at a Butthole Surfers show, Johnston’s madness finally takes hold. For the remainder of the film, we follow Johnston in and out of mental institutions, and in and out of creative fits. We follow him to New York City where he befriends Sonic Youth and other big city tastemakers. We even follow Johnston through his major label recording deal with Atlantic Records (he wouldn’t sign with Epic because they employed Metallica, whom he thought were possessed by the devil), which he secured almost entirely on the basis of one of his T-shirts, which frequently adorned the torso of Kurt Cobain.

Part of Johnston’s mystique was his endearing and disarming personality, but his mood swings and delusional behavior also made him a threatening presence. There are stories chronicled in the film that are so outlandish, you’d swear they were fictional, were it not for various friends and family members confirming their merit.

These days, it is Johnston’s equally child-like visual artwork that is garnering most of the accolades. He’s had several major showings and his work is included in the 2006 Whitney Biennial.

You can watch the trailer for the film below, and then head to your local arthouse theater to catch the flick.

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