francishooks Documentary charting a 2012 podcasting tour undertaken by Dan Harman, the showrunner of cult sitcom hit Community, following his sacking from the show, a show he created.I wish I hadn't watched this as I now dislike Community and Harman less than prior to watching. He's a horrible man, a drunk and a bully and, frankly, the series of Community he didn't work on is at least as good as, if not better than, the series' that preceded and proceeded it. Fair play for allowing the film to be warts'n'all. Very noble. But that doesn't make Harman any less of a jerk.

P42 Like most of us, I learned about Dan Harmon through Community. Which, I learned early on, was based on his own experience at community college. Jeff, in particular, was based on him. Not that Dan's handsome, or a lawyer... but a jerk who only sees people as instruments to get what he wants. And then he tries to change. Jeff actually does change. And Dan?Well, Dan is still profoundly egocentric. In his year being fired from Community he started a podcast, in which ostensibly people have a chance to interact with him and become part of the show. In practice, he often turns the attention back to himself within three sentences.This documentary, produced by Harmon's own production company, is also called Harmontown, and is therefore also very much about Dan Harmon. There are attempts to shift the focus to breakout star Spencer Crittenden, but while Spencer's story certainly is interesting, Dan's exhibitionism steals the spotlight over and over again.As it should. Because the intriguing thing is that the "therapy" that this podcast and tour admittedly is, ultimately works. Dan makes a couple of mistakes along the tour (drinking too much moonshine, cursing at his girlfriend), talks about them on stage, and moves beyond them. And comes to the realization that "being egocentric is OK, if you want to be the person that makes other people happy". It's a small step, but a step towards knowing who he is, and seeing a way to improve that.The most profound scene comes when he decides to work on the network notes for a pilot with Erin. The network was puzzled by a guy in the script saying "The corporate people can never have creativity, but they'll have everything else". What's everything else? They brainstorm over that. Then there's a moment at the end where the guy sings a song, which turns the perspective around for (I think) his daughter. Why? Erin. "She needs to say something to him." Dan "Yeah". Erin "She says "so you can have your integrity, and they can have everything else"". Dan looks at her. Looks at the camera "So he'll change". Looks around "that means he'll change".I'm typing this up from memory, but that's basically what it boils down to. It's an absurdly beautiful moment where you see their relationship moving past their hangups about themselves and each other, and their art flow together, as just has to happen for two people who are so self-reflective in their work. The fact that the main character is a standin for Dan is so obvious it doesn't even need to be stated. He is and will remain at the core of his work. But he still might change.So is it a well made documentary? Yes. Is the subject matter examined well? Yes. Is it worth seeing? If you listen to Harmontown, absolutely. If you're only a fan of Community, try the podcast first. If the podcast doesn't do it for you, the film will only repel you further. If you're into none of it, but like character study documentaries, then I would suggest you watch it as well.

cassidyorme I loved community and Dan Harmon before watching this.. and don't take my rating the wrong way i loved this documentary but Dan Harmon i just a whiny bitch, this documentary shows how he creates all of his own problems and whines about them..and the people that look up to him are people with real problems. I don't see how any network would ever work with him again after seeing this.. what a sad waste of a brilliant mind.. he could do a lot of good for a lot of people that look up to him.. but i think its evident he's too narcissistic and selfish to ever be someone who really makes people happy like he says in this documentary.. it fells more like the tour is for himself not the fans..

Red_Identity This is probably something that every huge Community fan is going to want to see. Sadly, it's not a documentary on Community itself, and I wish it had more to do in this. Still, this is pretty much everything one would expect from Dan Harmon, what he's like, his strategy, his goals. It's not a great film by any means, and for a documentary it's sort of aimless, but it's fun for the most part. It's interesting to really see the good in everyone even when it shows scenes that show Harmon being a jerk. This is probably going to feel like essential viewing for many, and in some ways it just may be. This is recommended, with reservations