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mbilbrey
Reviews
Daydream Believers: The Monkees' Story (2000)
Disappointing; lacks drama
"Monkees: Daydream Believers" was a major disappointment. The beginning scene, presumably set in the late 90's or 2000, was weak and added no interest to the show. The best part of the movie was in the early scenes when they were casting the show. It went downhill from there. While it purported to portray the Monkees' story, the plot was weak or nonexistent. The movie didn't go anywhere. The Beatle segment was interesting, one of the few bright spots in an otherwise drab film. There was no real sense of place or time, no sense of the 60's, and it did not accurately portray the sheer hysteria that surrounded the group. I sat through it once because I lived in that era, but it is not worth a second showing.
Come On, Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story (1999)
Worth a second showing
The movie showed a lot more depth than the recent David Cassidy Story and addressed one of the major flaws in that movie. By focusing on only the 4 years of the Partridge Family, it gave a more complete portrait of the Partridge Family phenomena. From recent interviews of cast members, "Come On Get Happy" seemed pretty accurate. Even so, like the David Cassidy Story, it tried to cover too much territory. They should have focused more on 1 or 2 of the characters - like Cassidy and Dey or Danny Bonaduce - instead of cramming all the characters in 1 movie. (I'm still waiting for the Danny Bonaduce story which I think has the most dramatic appeal).
Second, they didn't really show the sheer hysteria surrounding the program, which was covered better in the DC Story. They also didn't show the emotional devastation of the death of the fan at Cassidy's farewell show or cover the greed of the producers. All in all, I'd give it 3 stars. It's worth a second showing.