Rolf Belgum’s verité style twin documentaries concern one Dan Cleveland, a metal guitarist and delivery driver who deeply believes he’s meant for greater things in life. Cleveland has troubles with mental illness and an obsessive personality, bad medication and general unhappiness, all of which he tries to get through with a mix of delusions of grandeur, intense determination, and a habit of inventing strange contraptions where others would take a walk to the next hardware store.
Both films follow their subject without much commentary, yet the first one, when seen alone, can leave one rather uncomfortable. At times, we get too good a look at parts of Dan’s personality strangers shouldn’t be or needn’t be prone to and there are a few moments when the documentary seems out to present him as an object of mockery more than one of sympathy. It’s not that I didn’t laugh, it’s that I really felt bad for laughing at a guy who clearly is subject to forces out of his control even more than most of us are, and whose main sin is that he’s difficult, weird and a dreamer.
The second documentary avoids this pitfall completely, following Dan through harder times but really very clearly wanting him to achieve some of his dreams. On the way there (spoiler, I guess, so sorry), we get more insight into Dan and his peers, and an honest look at that part of middle age where you look at your life and realize that none of your dreams and hopes have come to pass, and you have left other, more realistic chances, pass you by for these unfulfilled dreams.
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