Driftwood

I was a little apprehensive when I first saw the preview for this movie but it turned out to worth watching. David Forrester (Ricky Ullman) becomes obsessed with death after the over dose death of his rock star brother. His parents decide he needs to be a Driftwood a facility that is supposed to keep him out of Jail and straighten him out. In Driftwood He meets the usual cast of Characters The gangsta, the Ladies man, etc. He also meets Johnathan, a ghost who has a secret that could save them all.

The acting is a questionable at times but is due to many characters being one-dimensional stock characters. We learn during the movie David does not have a good relationship with his parent, and has unresolved guilt over his brothers death. We also learn Noah (Jeremy Lelliot) is here for being gay something the camp is supposed to cure you of. We also learn Noah and Jonathan were friends and he also wants his murder solved. It has a complete ending unlike some horror movies.

I wish they had spent more time on the dynamics of the relationships, and fewer 2 one-dimensional character otherwise it is worth watching. I think Ricky Ullman's acting is good, though his innocent look makes it difficult to see him as the brooding troubled teen (Remember this is Phil of the future from Disney). Diamond Dallas Paige gives a good performance as the greedy, sadistic warden of the facility, and Jeremy Lelliot is a bit underutilized as Noah.

After just viewing the screener of DRIFTWOOD with a couple of mates, I was very impressed with this little known thriller. It had a pretty good storyline, a troubled teen, David, riddled over the guilt over his brothers death, he actually becomes obsessed with death. His misguided parents send him to DRIFTWOOD, an "Attitude adjustment camp for troubled youths" which is run by a sadistic Captain, played superbly by Diamond Dallas Page, and his brutal young henchmen. Once inside the camp he becomes haunted by a spirit named Jonathan, a former inmate who met a mysterious end, David has to unravel the mystery in order to free himself from the sadistic camp. Great acting from a bunch of relatively unknowns, and a great script make this one of the great finds of 2007, believe me if you like to sit and get stuck into a film, not expecting blood and guts, but a good suspense/mystery, this is a film you must watch. It reminded me a lot like STIR OF ECHOES. Strongly recommended 8/10

I really don't understand why people bashed this movie. Perhaps it wasn't a huge budget and not a huge amount of special effects. I think over all it was actually a decent movie. Sure it didn't have huge actors that were great but I feel the acting was very good for what they had. Now maybe it could have been better made. Some have criticized it for being unoriginal or formulaic but what is really? Most movies in general are based off another concept that has been done many times before.

Not every movie has to be a blockbuster for it to be a good movie in my opinion. Some moments were a little dull and were unbelievable but it wasn't completely unrealistic or unreasonable to just stretch your imagination some. After all its just a movie.

Not having known Tim's work beforehand, I was stunningly impressed with "Driftwood". Since I like both "Beth" and "Shout It Out Loud", I'm really looking forward to checking out his other work.

"Driftwood" resonated strongly with its message on peoples' reactions to "Columbine" --and it's a fantastic movie. I think that there really has not been a strong response from our communities on what the post-Columbine panic meant for people who were growing up without "mainstream" interests.

I am greatly interested in other works by Tim Sullivan after watching this film.

After the death of his older rocker brother Dean of overdose, the rebel sixteen year-old David Forrester (Raviv Ullman) becomes bitter and obsessed with death, while grieving his brother. His parents decide to send him to Driftwood, a camp leaded by Captain Kennedy (Diamond Dallas Page) that promises to transform dysfunctional boys in men. David is lodged in the Level 1 and discovers that Captain uses brutality to control and modify the attitudes of the teenagers; further, that he uses the camp with the intention to make money in real state business. When David is haunted by the spirit of the Captain's nephew Jonathan (Connor Ross), who died in the swamp nearby Driftwood, he discovers a dark secret about his mates in Level 1 and the brutal Captain Kennedy.

"Driftwood" has a promising beginning, and the reformatory seems to be a teen version of "Prison Break" with corruption, sadism and brutality. However the plot is so absurd and ridiculous that, associated to the terrible acting, makes this movie completely worthless. Some reviews that give high ratings seem to be fake comments and published only to promote this weak movie and lure the readers. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Driftwood, o Reformatório" ("Driftwood, The Reformatory")