TV Junkie

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 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.

It was like listening to a bad AA or NA speaker, that is to say, someone who spends 97% of their time telling what is was like, and somewhat glorifying (as best one can) the so-called "high times" while spending only 3% of their time focusing on the solution and how truly life changing recovery can be when one puts as much effort into it as they did getting high.

That said, it was like a car wreck that you don't want to see, but from which you simply cannot avert your eyes. Which is why I rated it as I did - had it not held me I'd have scored it much more harshly. Rarely have I seen a person so far afield from the concept of personal responsibility, which I realize is not the typical strong suit of your average addict, but I've known far more than my fair share of alkies and addicts, and this poor guy just seemed to feel that life/the employer/the wife/anyone close at hand was doing it to him! And I literally screamed at the set at one point where his son is terrified and sobbing "WILL YOU PLEASE give that poor child a hug?!!??!?" There is no doubt that the insanity that is addiction was accurately portrayed, but it was a bit much to take for the majority of the documentary. And did the wife EVER once go to Al Anon/Narc Anon? That made me want to pull my hair out as well, that she was helping him stay sick and cluelessly allowing herself to be miserable in the process.

All in all, I'd recommend it, but brace yourself. I kind of let it blind side me a bit, I suppose. And it was hard to watch. The last 5 to 10 minutes was my favorite part.

A gripping, poignant and heartbreaking portrayal of one man's descent into the grips of addiction. All the footage is real. The editing is effective. Kirkham's raw home-video footage underscores the loneliness and desperation brought on by his drug use. His display of self-hatred and humiliation during his crack binges is both fascinating and terrifying. Nonetheless, nothing is quite as devastating as watching his wife and children suffer the consequences of his behavior. As such, the heart of this film is the love story between Rick and his wife, Tammy. One witnesses the wrenching toll it takes on her enduring commitment and almost limitless compassion for her husband. It must be stated that while this movie is thoroughly captivating (I couldn't take my eyes away for a second) it should be watched with discretion, as some of the scenes contain graphic, potentially disturbing content.

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.