Feels Good Man

Feels Good Man is a documentary with a pretty fascinating premise: it focuses on Matt Furie, an affable cartoonist who created a character called Pepe the Frog, only to watch his creation be entirely co-opted by the darkest corners of the internet. What started as a fun-loving cartoon character became famous as a meme, and then slowly turned into something more sinister, eventually morphing into a full-out hate symbol. Watching Furie, with his guileless, childlike energy, reckon with what’s happened to his creation makes for a thoroughly compelling documentary. But the film feels unfocused — it wants to tell Furie’s story, but also be an internet culture explainer, delving into the history of 4chan, Trump’s election, and so much more. This stuff ties into Furie’s story, but what should probably be a quick aside actually takes up the bulk of the film. And director Arthur Jones tries a bit too hard to jazz up the staid talking heads format, cramming in a constant stream of clips and various animated asides. The documentary is at its best when it loses the ADD-addled editing style and allows itself to slow down and get inside Furie’s head.

**1/2 out of ****