When I found out about this independently made documentary about an eccentric and talented internet personality, I was very interested in seeing it. It's always encouraging to see aspiring filmmakers throw caution to the wind and make something despite having no official backing.
The feature length director's cut that's available on YouTube is pretty underwhelming, though. It's sluggishly paced, but probably its biggest problem is that there's no cohesion to anything. The narrative surrounding the documentary's subject (Nick) runs along side a narrative of the flooding that occurred in his area when filming took place, but neither are tied together in any significant way that adds to the narrative, making the focus on flooding seem largely unnecessary.
Even when it's focusing on Nick, the film seems to have no rhyme or reason that connects it's scenes, or even many of it's shots. It's clear there was a lot of footage they could have used that wasn't included, opting instead to cut out important context to ideas and story elements that just appear in the movie at random (we see a clip of B-roll showing him ascending stairs in a strange way before his phobia of stairs is even mentioned by any of the interview subjects, and even after that point, it isn't really expanded upon in any insightful way), making for a very confusing experience.
I do commend the director's cut for trying to make the best of a situation by incorporating everything that happened during filming, but without any real reason as to why it should be there, the flooding story line weighs down an already disorganized and confusing series of scenes.
The Producer's cut, on the other hand, is about half as long, but 10 times more cohesive. Not only does it completely remove the flood narrative from the movie (Mostly a positive, though I don't think a mention or two of it wouldn't have hurt to provide a larger context for the film - especially Nick's desire to move), but it also contains scenes and shots that actually fit together and flow well with a natural progression of ideas that slowly and properly introduces the story elements that just randomly appeared in the director's cut. As a result of focusing on Nick, it features a lot more vital information from interviews from his family, providing much needed context - and expansion - on certain element's of Nick's personality and his development as a person.
If I had any criticism of the Producer's cut, it would be that it easily could be longer with all the footage they shot (which they have been uploading mostly unedited to their YouTube channel) so they could perhaps focus on one overarching idea to hang the film on and give it a more clear ending, because as it is, it just kinda stops suddenly with no closure. The film would have benefited from a voice over narration (or, alternatively, smartly used interview clips) to include more information focusing on the origin of Nick's internet following, since that's the reason the documentary was made in the first place, as well as further insight into and documentation of his game development.
Overall, though, this is still a pretty inspiring film taking into account how it was made. Considering that it was filmed in 6 weeks (a relatively short time for a documentary of this nature - especially one made with little to no money), and by amateurs, I can't really rip on it too much. If anything, I commend this small group of filmmakers for having the courage and drive to go make this out on their own, because many people never have that kind of bravery. Good job, guys.
