While I would have recognized Paul Williams, I wasn’t familiar with the name until I watched Phantom of the Paradise earlier this year. Then I discovered that he had written a lot of very well-known songs. My curiosity was piqued, so I gave this a try.
It’s not an especially good documentary, but it’s interesting. It remains interesting through a certain charismatic charm that Paul Williams has. He’s nice, he’s clever, and he’s skilled. He’s fairly shy though, and that’s what makes this documentary fail. There isn’t much insight into Paul, how he thinks, how he works. In fact, they almost never talk about music at all.
The most frustrating thing is that the documentarian doesn’t seem to have any particular insight or focus. He just wants to follow Paul Williams because he liked him as a kid. His lack of focus becomes a problem as the movie progresses, and you realize that you seem to understand Paul Williams better than he does. It’s nice that he comes to the same realization at the end, but it seems like something he should have picked up on during the first day or two.
Here’s the spoiler. Paul Williams has a sense of regret about his drug and alcohol addled past. He’s worked past it. He’s happy to work now, and he’s found a sense of fulfillment in his normal life.
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