Paul Williams Still Alive (2011)

Very Cool!!!

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

As many others my age, I just assumed that Paul Williams had passed away since he was no longer in the public eye. He was everywhere in the 70's. A truly talented songwriter, with a self aware wit, he was an excellent talk show guest. Then he disappeared. Netflix showed this documentary as a recommendation after I watch the Glen Campbell documentary and I actually think I enjoyed this documentary more.At first, it was hard to watch as the director came off as stalker-ish and often seemed disinterested when Williams was sharing more poignant aspects of his upbringing, but as the documentary progressed, Wllliams story of addiction, recovery and the discovery of true happiness shone through. I highly recommend this to anyone who has fond memories of Paul Williams in his hey day. This documentary really shows an interesting perspective on celebrity and what truly brings happiness.

Writer/director Stephen Kessler is a working filmmaker in Hollywood. He's a fan of songwriter celebrity Paul Williams. Assuming Paul is dead, he is surprised to find out that Paul is still alive and still working. It turns out that he is sober just recently. Paul Williams was a big songwriter of the '70s. After a good performance on The Tonight Show, he became somewhat of a celebrity. He became hooked on various substances and fame. However his fame fades.Kessler is somewhat of a stalker. It gets awkward at times. Paul chaffs at Stephen's insinuation that something is pathetic about his later career. Sometimes he's treated like a family member. Other times, there is this weird tension. But Stephen always seems to be a fan, and that adds a sweet charming feel to the movie.

Greetings again from the darkness. This documentary was recommended to me by Adam, a fellow movie and music lover. Without his urging, I probably would have never taken the time to watch this ultimately fascinating and intriguing look at Paul Williams. I say that after an extremely clunky first few minutes where director Stephen Kessler, a self-proclaimed childhood fan of Williams, displays his insecurities and lack of focus as a filmmaker.The best stories have an abundance of conflict, and it turns out that the polar opposite goals of Williams and Kessler make for some spellbinding viewing. See, Kessler wants to figure out what happened to the 1970's icon and Williams simply wants to show how he has adjusted to a somewhat normal life. Kessler wants to look back, while Williams is living (happily) in the present.If you don't recognize the name Paul Williams, then you probably didn't watch TV or listen to the radio in the 1970's. The guy was everywhere! Known mostly for his prolific songwriting, he also performed, appeared in movies, TV shows, game shows and talk shows. In fact, he was a favorite of Johnny Carson and appeared on The Tonight Show fifty times. And then ... just like that ... he was gone. Drugs and alcohol destroyed his career. Now twenty years sober, he still performs - just in much smaller venues. This is man who has spent much time soul-searching. His insight into being different (difficult) or special (addicting) makes for a chilling moment.Kessler follows Williams around until he is forced to join him in front of the camera. Their strained relationship is painful to watch until things begin to turn during a long bus ride in the Phillipines. With so much of the focus on Kessler's attempt to connect with Williams, this is as much a personality analysis as it is a look at the history and current status of Williams.The final act of the film seems a bit staged as Kessler finally gets the "sleepover" at Williams' house that he had been after for 2 plus years. Reviewing old TV clips does not get the desired reaction ... Kessler never seemed to grasp what he had with this film. It's obvious that the two men now have a connection, but if you are expecting a tribute film to the glory years of Paul Williams, you will be disappointed. If instead you embrace this unusual film, you will come away impressed with the man that Paul Williams has become. It's no "Rainbow Connection" but maybe it's even more.

It would seem despite Paul's erstwhile troubles with substance abuse, the undeniable being which is him, comes shining thru, but not with a spotlight but with a muted and profound glow. Just like Paul ( at least I feel this way) it took me a while to warm up to both Kessler's and his directorial approach to this documentary. At times, Kessler's approach seemed to mimic Michael Moore's stylized approach to documentary making which is to let the director's presence and his intentions/difficulties known. I agree with him that Paul Williams story is one needed to be told. Kessler lets it be known of his own neurosis and fears, and at times its a little unnerving and inappropriate as you also see this being reflected by Paul. But Paul seemingly stays cool, truncating Kessler's sometime obtrusive manner. One of the things I really liked seeing about Paul was his benevolence towards others who share the same affliction ( if thats the right word) and his very humble lifestyle; he does his own driving, books some of his own gigs, totes his own luggage, lives in a very modest home etc. He doesn't do those things out of financial necessity, yet he also does not play the martyr. He's a just a simple man who appears to acknowledge the gift of life and wants to be part of it, hands-on. On the darker side, maybe he behaves this way to distance himself from the life-style that accommodated the self-destructive behavior in the first place. Who knows? The thing that impressed me most about Paul is his ability to live in the now, and look forward, as he shuns his past and nostalgia; not an easy thing to do when you consider his height of celebrity was his past. But this also explains Paul's reservation of doing the documentary in the first place as it can only come together as a story BY delving into the past. I never got the sense Paul was trying to hide anything, it just seemed sort of pointless to him. He doesn't seem to be outwardly concerned of danger, he sky dived, he travels all over the world, and just seems genuinely happy to be a part of something. I wish there had been some insight to Paul's creative process, the film makes it seem he just sort of fell into it, perhaps stemming from, in part, to his stature. Like Paul's music, the overall tone of the documentary is the good side of sadness, and Paul teaches us, perhaps tacitly so, there IS such a thing and its not such a bad thing after all.