T.V. movies have always taken from real life headlines to tell a story of society's destruction's through various means, and if at times seemed to be exploitative, there could be something to learn from those situations. Richie, here with a fictitious last name, is not a normal teenager facing coming if age issues. He is established as already being involved with the wrong crowd, and an early confrontation with his father reveals that there are bigger problems ahead. It's both embarrassing and destructive for the family, but efforts are made to fix the problems without success. No reason is explained for the problem, and that's where the reality hits. Often with teenagers, it's a larger problem than simple peer pressure or lack of direction or horrible self esteem. The human psyche is not easy to unravel when the individual can't even figure it out themselves.
I am looking at this as not the story of the real Richie who was killed by his own father in self defense, but a variation of the story told to give a well rounded view of what could have happened in any family. Today, there are different styles of family structures, but this was "traditional" 70's with a tough father (Ben Gazzara) trying his best to see things in larger terms than his own anger, and a mother (Eileen Brennan) who could easily be destroyed by her son's decent into drug addiction. Robby Benson is an actor who leaves behind a mixed reaction from his body of work, but I always found him natural and human, not at all "actorish". He goes out of his way to install understanding into Richie, and for me, that made his performance seem just fine and often traumatic and tense.
I could never stick my nose into the personal traumas of families who have gone through a trauma like this, but if this kept kids off of drugs after this aired, then it served a purpose no matter what the motivation for writing it was. Certainly not a T.V. classic, it's exactly like the exploitation movies of the 1930's on that took serious subjects like this to dramatize as a warning. Unlike those, however, I see this minus all the nonsense that made those unrealistic. I saw enough similar situations to view this as closer to life, and so many lost lives or promising futures destroyed simply by the need for a quick escape.
I am looking at this as not the story of the real Richie who was killed by his own father in self defense, but a variation of the story told to give a well rounded view of what could have happened in any family. Today, there are different styles of family structures, but this was "traditional" 70's with a tough father (Ben Gazzara) trying his best to see things in larger terms than his own anger, and a mother (Eileen Brennan) who could easily be destroyed by her son's decent into drug addiction. Robby Benson is an actor who leaves behind a mixed reaction from his body of work, but I always found him natural and human, not at all "actorish". He goes out of his way to install understanding into Richie, and for me, that made his performance seem just fine and often traumatic and tense.
I could never stick my nose into the personal traumas of families who have gone through a trauma like this, but if this kept kids off of drugs after this aired, then it served a purpose no matter what the motivation for writing it was. Certainly not a T.V. classic, it's exactly like the exploitation movies of the 1930's on that took serious subjects like this to dramatize as a warning. Unlike those, however, I see this minus all the nonsense that made those unrealistic. I saw enough similar situations to view this as closer to life, and so many lost lives or promising futures destroyed simply by the need for a quick escape.