VeteranLight
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
Kirandeep Yoder
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
Ginger
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Steve Ripple
It is hard to separate a documentary from it's subject. The film was entertaining and insightful. It captured the life of Wild Man in a way that was honest and insightful. I really enjoyed the inclusion of his family as well as his past friends and collaborators. What I found hard to stomach in this film was his music - and a few of his 'critics' who thought his music was original outsider art/music. I could not fathom anyone thinking his lyrics and especially his music anything but naive babble. I know that a big part of outsider art is it's naiveté and that it is sometimes hard to find the core of creativity in this. But usually something - composition, a vision, a perspective - something comes through to make it art. His music is mostly spontaneous ramblings that have no coherence. I've heard much of this sort of thing coming from toddlers and preschool children. I composed some great tunes to my dog last night (but I may have obscured my tunes in too much irony to qualify as outsider music?) One of the critics, I believe it was the Rhino records executive, started to analyze one of Wild Man's tunes as if it were a clever comment on society and I laughed out loud. I think he is most akin to the dadaists - and most of their work has not stood the test of time - and is more important as a historical movement than an artistic one. Can you name a Dadaist - besides Man Ray or Marcel Duchamp (both of whom may also be classified in other artistic movements). But opposed to the Dadaists, his music is not really protesting anything - and is not (as the really annoying Mark Mothersbaugh in this film suggests) reacting to prevalent musical trends occurring in the late 60's and 70's - resulting in a nascent punk genre? Mothersbaugh's contention that the white-get-drunk-party 'concert' rock of the 70's as being bereft of meaning and conformist is ridiculous. His music is the answer? I have Devo albums and although I like them still - they are silly, pretentious at times, and hardly have any deep meaning. I also have some Styx albums (an example of the concert rock genre) - and although also silly and contrived at times, I believe have more heartfelt and sincere sentiment (mostly non-conformist at that) in the lyrics than most new wave (is this even a music term anymore) or punk tunes. 'Concert' rock was perhaps over-produced, and punk - under - but both were often saying very similar things. Disco however.... (Although I like some Disco too - usually in an ironic way - but then again that foot sometimes starts tapping itself into places where the ears fear to tread).Now I have to compare this to another documentary that I saw a few years ago - 'The Devil and Daniel Johnston' the subject of whom is mentioned in Derailroaded (most annoying title of a film?). See this film if possible - it's finally released. This film is amazing! It brought me to tears - in several scenes. The film haunted my dreams, early morning groggy thoughts, and daydreams. And Daniel Johnston, as opposed to Wild Man, is an artist. His music has a point and is almost pure emotion that sometimes tears you apart. (Not so sure about his visual art). Wow.The pathology of each of these people is rather similar, although mention was not made of Wild Man's drug use (if there was any), and it was a prominent part of Daniel Johnston. However, the personality of each is markedly different. Wild Man - I find very annoying - I think that I am on the side of his family here. I did not believe his depiction of his mother, Frank Zappa, or most other people in his life. Not only is he schizophrenic, and bi-polar (I think manic depressive is actually more descriptive here), but he is also self absorbed, selfish, and egocentric. Daniel Johnston is none of these things. So this makes it also hard to separate these films - Johnston is likable - Wild Man is not. I've know a few people like Wild Man (without the extreme pathology) and have had to work with them - it is not fun - extremely exasperating only touches the surface of a description of the experience. Maybe this personality type is so antithetical to mine that I can not judge the merits of this film objectively - but isn't that true for many of us?
Stacey4U
Very disappointing! I saw this documentary at a screening event and I actually walked out of the theater cause it was so bad. The sound editing was terrible, fisher's voice is enough to drive anyone into a mental institution (seriously - like freakin long pointy nails on a chalk board), and the bottom line is i don't think anyone really even knows of or cares about this man. I mean I certainly never heard of him, my friends never heard of him, so why make a film about him? why? My suggestion to the producers....try making a documentary about something worth watching next time and hire a different editor and sound person while you are at it. Also, maybe go back to film school, if you even attended, and try it again
Clayton Moore
Derailroaded played at the Kansas Film Festival on 09/10/05 and I got a ticket. The documentary is of Wild Man Fischer, a Rock singer from the 1960's. I never heard of him but Frank Zappa produced one of his albums and he was the initial pitchman for Rhino records and recorded the Rhino radio jingle. Wild Man Fischer suffers from paranoid schizophrenia which has profoundly impacted his life and career. In some of the concern footage from the early 60's you see him jamming with Frank Zappa (very nice to see him again) and see glimpses of what might have been. For years Dr. Demento was a big fan. In fact he played once at Giants stadium with Zappa, Janice Joplin, The Byrds and Hendrix so he wasn't a hack. If you have never been around true mental illness this film is an eye-opener. Mental illness isn't funny; in fact it is extremely scary. Fascinating movie. Two things stand out for me. The first is Billy Mummy (the kid from "Lost in Space") turned out pretty well. In fact he seemed to have his stuff together. He might be Wild Man's only friend. The second was the Dr. Demento puppet show where Frank Zappa finds out how crazy Wild Man really is and breaks it off. The family interviews are touching and tragic. His family has pretty much stuck by Wild Man all these years and seem to truly care about his welfare. From the Aunt dying of cancer who gives him a place to live to his brother dropping off groceries. A wonderful glimpse into the birth of Rock and Roll and a life completely out of control. See it.
John McGraw
Derailroaded might be about music, but Wild Man Fischer isn't particularly musical in any conventional sense. More of an outsider artist, or maybe just an exploited freakshow, suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and creating during his manic peaks. This is more a study of mental illness than anything else, and we see Fischer beginning to treat the film crew as he has finally treated everyone who has tried to help him in the past. Notable scenes include a re-enactment of an interview between Dr. Demento & Frank Zappa, done with puppets, in which each reveals to the other just how beyond-the-pale crazy Fischer is.
