Daydream Believers: The Monkees' Story

This movie was an enjoyable watch; missed it the first time but caught it on Netflix recently. The resemblance of the actors to the real Monkees is amazing, particularly Davy (George Stanchev, although much taller than the real Davy) and Peter (L.B. Fisher). Although Mike Nesmith (Jeff Geddis) and Micky Dolenz (Aaron Lohr) were not exact lookalikes,they gave stunning portrayals. For example, Geddis' mannerisms and Texan accent were spot on. And Lohr's portrayal of Dolenz' over-the-top on-stage performances and his crazy facial expressions, mimicry, etc. brought back fond memories. All of the actors took great care in portraying each of The Monkees' individual personalities. Even their voices were soundalikes (although British viewers say that Stanchev's accent was not an authentic Manchester accent). Although the television show was depicted accurately, the writing for the entire movie was very poor; something was missing. SPOILER: For example, the Beatles threw a party for the Monkees when they were touring in London. This entire scene (which should have been exciting) was boring. All in all, this was a fond tribute to The Monkees but it could have been exceptional.

Uncanny physical and vocal resemblances by the young cast to the actual Monkees highlight this VH1 film about the fictional TV show band who wanted to be a real rock group. Being shown on television followed by a Behind the Music profile of the actual band, the audience is thoroughly convinced that the Monkees we see in this TV film are indeed the same Monkees we saw in the 1966 - 1968 TV series. Sometimes this type of impressionist casting can be distracting, but in this case each actor seems to be the madcap Mickey Dolenz, the down home Mike Nesmith, the spiritual Peter Tork, and the prim and corny Davy Jones. In fact so convincing, sometimes it seems we are watching a feature length version of the TV show. When we are introduced to Mike Nesmith he really is wearing a wool hat and driving a red convertible. In other words, what we were seeing was closer to their actual lives than we may have originally thought.

The film begins with an idea by the producers of the TV show to create a fictional band (complete with actual albums released in record stores) and show their personal life on television in a slap stick comedy format not too different than the The Beatles film efforts. The music would be produced using the best studio musicians and songwriters (Boyce and Hart, Neil Diamond, Jeff Barry, Paul Williams, Stephen Stills) and featuring the vocal talents of the four young actors (two of whom can actually play instruments). The music is a smash busting the charts both as singles and albums. Not satisfied with their success they strive to become a real band (lead singer Mickey Dolenz learning to play the drums, Mike Nesmith rising as the behind the scenes leader of the band) and set off to prove their critics wrong by playing live concerts to packed arenas. The film is mostly light comedy with a happy ending which in itself sets it apart from most stories of destruction we see in other efforts made about the lives of Karen Carpenter and The Beach Boys or end with a fatal air crash such as The Buddy Holly Story. This film actually ends with all the performers alive, well, and happy. In the Behind the Music profile that follows, we see that decades later they are still alive, well, and happy.

Some parts of the film are not as successful. The meeting between the Beatles and the Monkees just doesn't work. Short segments that show Davy Jones talking to his dad and being told how unhappy he really is or Mike Nesmith talking to his wife seemed tagged on. The actor portraying Jack Nicholson (he scripted the Monkees movie "Head") seemed to be doing Jim Carrey doing Jack Nicholson. But the movie is very enjoyable, as fluffy as a TV sitcom, and the pre-fab four are just four guys who are given their shot and make the most of it while trying to keep their pride and dignity. A band of Pinnochio daydream believers who for a short while merge fantasy with reality and become a real band.

Being a 14 year old Monkees fan I obviously wasn't around when the Monkees were at the height of their success- but I know their story pretty well. I didn't know what to make of the film at first- somebody else portraying my beloved Monkees? But after watching it I found that I loved it- it was pretty much true to the Monkees story and was a lot of fun. The soundtrack was great too- it will leave you humming Monkees songs for days afterwords!

The film is a credit to Davy,Micky,Peter and Mike and to the actors who played them [George Stanchev, Aaron Lohr, L.B Fisher and Jeff Geddis] watch the movie if you are a Monkees fan..if you are NOT a Monkees fan, watch the movie and you will probably become one!

Wow. This really was not that great.

The producers did a great job with casting, the actors all LOOKED like the Monkees, and for the most part sounded like them, too. (Fake Davy could use some work, and Fake Mike went a little soft on the drawl)

It was in the writing that the Daydream was un-Believeable. TWO guys created the show, Bob Rafelson and Bert Schnider, NOT one guy named Van. And the Monkees didn't meet on a beach and discuss the obvious after Head, that was just cheesy. In fact, the entire ending was cheesy. Also, many scenes were just so ridiculously historically inaccurate that it was both sad & funny at once! (Thanks, VH1, for Popping it up today and pointing out things I missed) It seemed like the writers were more concerned with pinpointing certain specific moments than with presenting the real story.

Awesome soundtrack, though. :)

I didn't really know what to expect when I tuned into VH1 for their latest BioPic. After spending a day with Monkees episodes and then the Behind the Music, I was curious what it would be like to have "fake-Monkees" on the screen. What I found was an interesting film. The individual performances were 75% acceptable... I was actually awe-struck while watching L.B. Fisher portray Peter Tork. I think just about everyone has to admit that he certainly nailed his role. Aaron Lohr pulled Micky off alright. His hair was a little too curly, but that's forgivable, right? Jeff Geddis was a convincing Mike. Especially during the audition scenes. I actually believe he had the timing and the movements exactly correct, or at least very nearly. Now, for the not-so-pleasantly-reviewed-actor. George Stanchev may be a fine actor, but I don't think he was well suited for Davy. For one, he was too tall; Two, the accent.. ouch; and thirdly the cleft in his chin grabbed more attention than his acting. Agree? Disagree? Oh well. Did anyone else notice the green sign that read "Davy is Groovy" in *every* concert sequence? I found that kind of endearing, actually, the budget really must have been quite low, but I can deal with that.

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