"Paul Williams: Still Alive" talkback thread

[Princeton]

I finally got a chance to see the Paul Williams documentary about a month ago and I am sorry to say that I did not enjoy it. Throughout the entire film, Williams berates and backtalks the interviewer/director. I consider this to be unacceptable behavior for two reasons: A) The director is basically introducing Williams to a new generation of fans, and B) Before this film was made, Williams' main source of income (apart from royalties) was appearing at drug/alcohol abuse rehab functions, which are obviously noble causes, but I think it's safe to say that appearing in this film did more for him financially than anything else. Taking these two reasons into account, I'm a little disgusted at the ingratitude and disrepect Williams exhibited throughout the film. So I'd love to hear any opinions, good or bad, from anyone who has seen this film.

 

[MelissaY1]

I saw this film a few months back on cable. There were parts I really enjoyed about it, and others I didn't. But I have to politely disagree with you: I think Paul had every right to be grumpy with the director. He was such a fan boy, and it showed throughout. There's nothing wrong with making a film of someone you grew up with/enjoyed your whole life (more power to him) but there were a few moments in there that really were inappropriate for him to be filming: the financial discussion at lunch when Paul told him not to film it, making him sit and watch old footage of him when he was a raging alcoholic when clearly it was a time of his life he didn't wish to look back on, etc.

I think Paul was a standup guy in the end by letting the director not only make a film about him, but allowed him to stay at his home and gave him a box of old videotapes he had in storage.