What Richard Did

What Richard Did is a film from Ireland.  I stumbled upon the poster on Twitter and followed the link.  I'm glad I did.

I knew a guy.  At the age of 17 he was a promising skier and snowboarder.  So promising that the Olympics were on the radar for him.  His life seemed destined for greatness. While drowning in his success and promise, he made some bad choices around drugs and alcohol. By the age of 19, he was a total mess.  He's 40 now; an alcoholic and he works sporadically.  His latest girlfriend left him because, she says, when he's drunk he won't get out of bed to urinate so, out of laziness, he wets the bed. When people try to help him get on track he says, "my life peaked at 18.  Everything since then has been shit. Why bother?"

I'm sure we all know, or know of, someone like that; someone whose light burns out long before it should have.  Or perhaps more appropriately, someone who makes a choice that is detrimental to their future. While some have the fortitude to overcome bad life choices and still achieve success, some never recover from their choices.  I guess it really depends on the choice and the action.

I'm really good at stating the obvious.

The trailer for What Richard Did tells this story, sort of.  It shows a young man at the threshold of a promising future.  He has everything going for him.  The trailer paints a very clear picture but does not really give away the choice Richard makes. This is a true teaser.

The trailer for What Richard Did had all the elements of the perfect teaser trailer.  It was less than 2 minutes, it welcomed the viewer with human drama and likable characters.  It did so with humour and compassion and then it strikes you with tragedy - without real spoilers.  Yes, we can easily speculate, but the outcome is more important than the choice. Does Richard overcome or is his life ruined?

The trailer left me with two thoughts:

1) I am often grateful for my own mediocrity because any form of success is cautiously appreciated.
2) I hope that I have the opportunity to see this film.

http://whatricharddid.ie/