TV Junkie

I just wanted to say thank you Rick for releasing these films and recordings and allowing this to be created. Because if this film, it has changed my life and that of my family.

This film has saved my life and made sure that my two boys will have their father while they are growing up in this harsh world we live in, and has saved my marriage.

I wish there was more I could do or say so that you (Rick) would know just how much this means to me and my family, and that you could truly understand in your heart of hearts that you have helped to save a life... My life!

I trust that in some way, some how, God will bless you for having the courage to bring forth these films and recordings. I will keep you in my prayers.

Thank you Rick!

Patrick

I happened to stumble on this movie on HBO while channel surfing. Got sucked into it. Man, did I get sucked into it. Never heard of this guy Rick Kirkham but did I realize that whatever mediocre, normal, family life I have is worth so much. This movie is real and everything in it is as close to reality as you can get. The movie shows how his wife sticks by him (longer than I expected), his kids see him self destruct, his career go down the toilet and yeah, then its the drugs. And yeah all this was caused by his self-destructive nature but I took more than just the obvious. All in all, if you are feeling a little low on life and you feel luck has not not been your side, spend the 75 minutes to watch this movie. It will make you appreciate it.

TV Junkie was an experience I was not prepared for. This movie was about a man and his struggle with drug addiction. Edited from hours of video footage, you see about as "honest" a look into the life of a successful man both in vocation and family ripped wide open by the monster of drug dependency as has ever been presented.

What a moving film...

I'm not entirely sure why anyone would have a problem or be suspicious of Kirkham's motives.

One thing to consider is that Kirkham received his first camera as a teenager and began filming everything at that point. So the drug addiction and subsequent breakdown of life came within the context of a lifetime of filming.

He did have a very "plaintive" way of describing what was happening to him, but I think he was trying to explain a totally indescribable feeling/situation in as professional a manner he could.

I really enjoyed this film and thought it presented a completely unique perspective on a very well-documented subject. And how could you not help fall in love with Tammi's small town wisdom and optimism.

This 'documentary' lifts all the home-bred editing techniques from Tarnation, and THAT wasn't even as great a film as people made it out to be. Cue indie guitar rock with a nostalgic tone, "iMovie" cue cards over nostalgic long lost photos, break cue cards into poetic nostalgic 'faux' symbolic sentences, follow a loser over his loser life as he wallows in nostalgic introspective narrative. Did I mention he was addicted to drugs? Argh, frustrating, self indulgent filmmaking at its worst.

I want to support indie filmmakers, and low budget bedroom films that make it big - I think we need more of them in the world. But I can't support this one, sorry. I just can't.

TV Junkie was definitely worth watching. It satisfied my curiosity about drug use among people who apparently have it all. I've always wondered how someone with half a brain, with a decent job, and a nice family could allow himself to become addicted to crack cocaine. What is he thinking? What is the feeling that he gets from it that drives him to continue to wreck his life and the lives of those closest to him? This film answers those questions.

Frankly, the "reality" TV craze kind of hurts this film. This film is stark reality. Unlike the polished, sometimes scripted and directed "reality" programs we see on television, we see the horrible production of home movies. We see a man who has a very strange obsession of capturing his whole life on video tape. This behavior was almost as disturbing as his drug use. He videotaped constantly. It's almost like he was escaping reality by living through his video camera. I applaud the filmmakers for what must have been a painful time going through the 3000 hours of video tape that they used to make the film.

Since this is the third documentary comprised entirely of home video that I've watched in the past 18 months, it appears that there are some odd people out there who are compelled to capture everything on video. Why do they do it? My bet is that these people rarely watch their tapes as the obsession with filming goes far beyond simply wishing to capture life's events for future viewing.

Watch this movie if you are curious to see the real life of a drug addict. I would have liked to see more of his recovery, but the movie isn't about recovery. It's about drug addiction. Reviewers who suggest that Kirkham purposely got hooked on drugs as a way to make money off of a movie should have their heads examined. He was making plenty of money on Inside Edition. How much money do you think he made from this documentary? Not as much as he would have made had he stayed sober and kept his job. I also doubt that he would subject his children to experiencing the horrors of drug addiction. The man comes across as anything but a hero, and the ends certainly wouldn't justify the means.