Review of Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story

Daydream Believer is enjoyable to watch for the novice Monkees listener/watcher, but for those knowledgeable in Monkee history, there are too many inaccuracies to be ignored. Although the actors playing the four Monkees are excellent choices, their evolution from nobodies to rock stars does not exist: from small visual differences (the Mickey character starts with an afro instead getting it a year after the show started like in real life), to recording (the first song they attempted was not "All Of Your Toys") to an abrupt ending that tells only a fraction of the Monkees story. The movie is almost played up too light-hearted, too tongue-in-cheek. The Monkees history is an interesting one; filmmakers should have considered ending it's story after Nesmith's departure in 1969/1970 - although it may have made for a three-hour movie. The movie does not touch on Peter's leaving, nor the band's individual recording sessions, nor their form into a trio and subsequent concerts with Ike and Tina Turner - all details important to Monkees history. Although there are nice touches to the film (like a partial recreation of the show's opening credits and an episode of "A Monkees Fairy Tale"), a life-long fan and Monkeephile will pick this movie apart like er, two monkeys grooming themselves.