User reviews

This TV film pushed the envelope concerning teenage drug usage in the era. Even though the dialogue is a bit corny at times, Benson, Gazzara and Brennan still give powerful performances. Still worth viewing! Caution! If you watch it on Amazon Prime, be prepared for a very poor video transfer.

RELEASED TO TV IN early 1977 and directed by Paul Wendkos, "The Death of Richie" is a drama about a teen, Richie Werner (Robby Benson), who turns to drugs and increasingly troubles his family to the point that his father (Ben Gazzara) is compelled to take extreme measures in solving the problem. Eileen Brennan plays the mother. The movie is based on the real-life account detailed in the book "Richie" by Thomas Thompson about the 1972 death of George Richard "Richie" Diener Jr. from Long Island at the hands of his father, George Diener, who was not charged with a crime.

The drug culture was still relatively new in the 70s and so parents were generally ignorant of the pitfalls thereof, which explains why the parents wait too long to tackle Richie's drug problem by sending him to rehab or whatever. The movie illustrates how teens are drawn into the druggie lifestyle via hanging around the wrong crowd and the corresponding peer pressure. As they say: "Bad company corrupts good character." Mr. Werner should have banned Richie's drug-inclined buddies from his property WAY before he does, not to mention get him hooked-in with a serious counseling program.

Of course not everyone who turns to drugs for recreation turns out like Richie and the movie never suggests this, but it does convey that the misuse of chemicals is a generally negative road and SOME personalities, for whatever reason, can't handle them because they have no sense of moderation and in some cases morph into psychos, like Richie. It's like alcohol: I rarely drink but, when I do, it makes me happy and pleasant. Yet I know people who become meaner than a junkyard dog when they drink. It depends on the personality in question. These types have to stay away from recreational drinking & drugs altogether.

"The Death of Richie" isn't as good as "Go Ask Alice" (1973), but it's still a potent 70's anti-drug flick. The movie shows Richie's potential and how he was actually a nice, respectful boy when he was sober. There are coming-of-age elements but, unfortunately, this is a story about coming-of-death and it's just grueling and sad.

In real-life, the father, George Diener, died of cancer about 9 years after he killed Richie in April, 1981, at the too-young age of 52. Richie's friend Brick in the movie was Lenny Langone in real life; he died on August 25, 2010. He was with Richie 15 minutes before the killing and to his dying day defended Richie as "too effed up" to be a threat to anyone and insisted that his father was a cold bastage looking for the right moment to kill Richie and legally get away with it. What he doesn't tell you is that Richie came at his dad with a friggin' ice pick and Lenny wasn't present during the encounter. It's easy to defend a drug-addled wacko with an ice pick when you're not the one being threatened.

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 37 minutes and was shot at Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, California. WRITERS: John McGreevey wrote the teleplay based on Thomas Thompson's book.

GRADE: B-/C+

And the first thing I wanted to do the next day, was go get/find some reds... But no one would give them to a 10 year old.

I don't think I got the intended message of the movie.

I remember seeing this movie when it first aired on TV when I was 8. Scared the crap out of me. Richie's story was in the back of my mind every time I said no to drugs and my friends didn't. Because of that I watched this movie with each of my kids shortly before they entered middle school. It's free on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRwXc-WrTWg. As we watched they would ask questions and I would pause the movie and answer their questions. Or sometimes I would pause the movie and comment on something to make sure they understood the significance of what was happening.

I was tempted to give this movie a 9 but I think that was mostly because it seems dated, and I wanted to avoid punishing a movie simply because it was old (I feel the same way about Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, It's a Wonderful Life). Accepting that this movie was made in the 70s, and made for TV, I think it's a 10 in all respects. The story, the writing, the acting by the 3 main characters, and the score just rip your heart to shreds and fill your eyes with tears. Such a powerful, emotional illustration of how drugs destroy families;how kids should never, ever try them, not even once; and how parents should never, ever give up on their kids, no matter what.

Unfortunately this movie tells a true story. Very dark material that will find its way to the darkest parts of your soul. After watching this movie I felt about drug dealers the same way I felt about the Nazis after watching Schindler's List.

Scary.

Ben Gazzara and Robby Benson are solid as battling father and son in this true story about a teenage boy, rebellious and prone to joy-riding all night, who gets involved with drugs. His hard-working, long-suffering parents try to stop the downward spiral, but nothing can break through to their angry, apathetic kid, who seems intent on destroying himself. Despite dated trappings and an overemphasis on parents of addicts who cop out or turn a blind eye (designed to show all sides), the film still packs a small punch. John McGreevey's teleplay, adapted from the book "Richie" by Thomas Thompson, is a bit thick with writer's ink, and the pretensions show through (particularly in an early scene with the father giving a speech in his son's bedroom at two in the morning). However, director Paul Wendkos does a good job at steering us through the tragic circumstances, and the family's plight is certainly a heart-rending one.

A movie I remember when I was a kid that made me scared to death to use drugs.

The subject line says it all. I mean...... seriously. Histrionics. Check. Overstatement. Check. Mixing apples and oranges. Check.

I have seen this movie many times. (I recorded it off TV). It really does show what dope can do to you and your family. If you ever get a chance to see it SEE IT!!. It'll be worth every minute. Benson and Gazzara give off true Oscar performances. They would have got my vote as best actor and supporting if it had been a theatrical released movie and up for nominations.

The Death of Ritchie tells the true story of the sad death of 17 year old Ritchie Werner in the 1970's. This was a made for TV movie and was a brave even brutally realistic portrayal of the emotional turmoil in families with a drug using teenager.

Having lived with a drug using younger brother and then doing volunteer work in the field of adolescent substance abuse, the twists and turns of this story are sadly all too familiar. Drug treatment protocols and interventions have progressed since the 70's so it was frustrating to see the system not coping enough to get Ritchie the help he needed.

The three lead actors: Ben Gazzara as the father Ben Werner and Eileen Brennan as mother Carol Werner and Robby Benson as Ritchie were superb. Having been a frequent witness to the many and varied desperate attempts that parents make to get their child off drugs, I think that Gazzara and Brennan did a fabulous job in portraying the massive roller coaster ride and the sheer desperation that parents feel in these situations.

Robby Benson had already played a string of quite emotionally intense roles as a teenager (Jory, Jeremy, Death Be Not Proud and his most famous being Ode to Billy Joe) but his performance as Ritchie was worthy of an Oscar nomination had this been a big screen movie as he portrays all of the powerful and complex conflicted emotions at play with a boy stuck where he ended up. Addicts often cycle between manic good behavior patches where they try and be clean and then they relapse and crash. In one of those clean positive phases, Ritchie sells raffle tickets to almost everyone he meets in a mall parking lot. Benson excellently portrays the gangly awkwardness of that age and the energy that only really excited and focused teenage boys can put out. Benson played a ton of roles in the '70's where girls easily fell for his doe eyed sensitive charm so it took some acting for a dreamboat kid to play someone who struggled to talk to girls.

Robby Benson by then was a big teen idol courtesy of dazzling eyes, model quality looks and not inconsiderable athleticism (that was on display in a string of movies after Ritchie) but he never could break through with lead roles in big movies because he seemed to have been pigeonholed as just a heartthrob. His performance in Ritchie was akin to Leonardo deCaprio's breakout role in What's Eating Gilbert Grape from which he springboarded to a string of A list roles.

I watch films to be entertained, escape and think of something other than the fact my everyday life is not very good. So, suffice to say, I did not really enjoy this film. I literally have nothing in common with any of the players here as I am childless, do not take substances of any kind and I have never really had any friends, let alone the types to offer me drugs. So this thing was not hitting home for me and it does not help that you know how it's going to end right from the start, so when it looks like Richie might turn things around, you know something is going to create a stumbling block for him and he is going to revert. So all in all a bit of a downer film all around.

The story has a kid named Richie's funeral already in progress. Suffice to say, the movie is showing us how he was killed. His friends played a huge part; however, none of them seemed to let the drugs overwhelm them like Richie did. His parents are pretty supportive, the dad does begin to get angry and want to beat down Richie, but who could blame him? This film just really has nothing to impart as the only thing they didn't do is counseling and I really doubt a session with a shrink would have accomplished anything.

The cast is good, they play there parts well especially Ben Gazzera and Robbie Benson. Clint Howard is in this too, at first I did not recognize him, but then I thought it might be him and it was!

So, not a movie I will rewatch too often as it was depressing and offered little in the way of actual entertainment. I am sure most people who smoke pot would scoff at this as it is one of the drugs Richie was taking and blame everything on his pills, but pot is not as bad as they used to say; however, it is not as beneficial as they make it out now. It also does have the harmful side effect of literally making a person less empathetic to the point of not having any if smoked all the time, which is why Richie thought only if himself and did not care what his habit was doing to the ones he loved. So check it out if it sounds good to you, not my cup of tea.

This is one movie all teenagers should see. I seen it as a teenager and it really opened my eyes about drugs. How drugs can destroy your life, your family. It was a sad but true movie. If people could just see the pain, maybe they would think twice before trying drugs. To me it was one of the altime great movies. Hopefully it will air soon again on T.V. or come out on video.

I haven't seen this movie since it was on TV and I was a teenager, so that has to be considered in reading my opinion. In brief, the movie follows the trajectory of a bright, handsome teenager, played by teen hearthrob of the time Robbie Benson and his hopeless descent into drug use. He tries to reform but the drug addiction is a powerful enemy indeed. This movie was made in the seventies, and as such, is probably dated, but I do think it had an effect on me, and was a part in building up an impression that heroin, in particular, was a road I didn't want to go down. If I remember correctly, this is mostly a movie about why you don't want to become a junkie, and the frustration of parents in watching their children turn into addicts. Not a happy film, but an excellent cautionary tale. Should be remade in today's context, including meth as a topic.

I have so many good things to say about this movie, but a lot of people on here have already said them. I will say that after viewing this movie for a second time, I was full of angst and sadness. I cried. I couldn't believe how terribly things worked out for this family. It is SUCH a tragic story and it did not have to end that way at all! What a lesson in life! Every character just kept making one wrong move after another. I couldn't believe how many bad decisions were made by every character. These bad decisions just set off more bad decisions and angered all the wrong people and it just got worse and worse until BANG! Man - what a horrible way to end it. And it didn't have to be that way at all. All it took was for one person - any person in the family! - to let go of their pride for one second and everything could have been saved.

I really got a lot out of this movie. The father and son relationship was so delicate and touchy, it was very painful to watch the two of them interact. When one person says the wrong thing, it gives the other person the instant opportunity to jump all over them and slam the door in their face. This happens over and over and it's a painful experience. You wanna just grab everyone and say TALK TO EACH OTHER! DON'T YOU SEE WHAT'S GOING ON?!??!? AAH!!

The acting was remarkable. Robbie Benson was a genius actor. Ben Gazarra perfected the sensitive, temper prone/irrational, yet hurting and loving father figure. The mother's character was best summed up by her father who said something like, "I've taught her well; when a good man tells her what to do, she listens!" And that's exactly what she did the whole time - listen. She did nothing else. Didn't talk, didn't make any effort to stand up for herself. It was quite a shame.

One last comment about the "he is free man" part. I do not think this man should have gone to jail. If you look at the circumstances, he had no choice. The jury was right in letting him go.

I don't know how anyone can't be moved by this movie. Beware though, this movie is HEAVY. You might cry and you might get sick to your stomach if you're as empathetic as I am. I know I couldn't stop analyzing it for hours after it was over. 9/10.

There were many anti-drug made for TV movies in the 1970s. This is probably the best one of the lot (outside of "Go Ask Alice"). Robbie Benson was excellent in the role of a troubled teen who is caught up in drug addiction. There was a scene where he was in his room, crying after a particularly bad day at high school. Benson did an exemplary job of showing the kid's isolation and loneliness. Ben Gazarra was also excellent in the role of the father who ultimately has to made a hard decision concerning his son. I remember being outraged at the ending, but looking back on it, I understand why it had to come to that conclusion. I have noticed that some made for TV films have been released on video and DVD. This one should be released as well.

...is what led me to find this film. It drags in certain early parts of the film, but it escalates to show how Richie declined and degenerated to violent behavior toward his parents. Robby did an excellent job.

Death of Richie could be the greatest drug movie ever made. Robbie Benson turns in an Oscar caliber performance as Richie and the scene where his trip-out room gets busted is destined to go down in movie history as one of the finest film sequences ever.

I was 15 when i saw this movie , My father forced me to watch it ,In the 70s any movie with Robbie Benson was interesting to watch for us teens . It was a good movie about drug abuse Ben Gazzara as the father was a great performance if a little exaggerated and over the top . I blame this movie for making me curious about drugs and it caused me to experiment with drugs , My father told me if he ever caught me doing drugs he would do to me what the father in that movie did to Robbie Benson . He caught me and did nothing.

"The Death Of Richie", more than thirty-five years later, remains a pretty effective made-for-television movie. It is fairly tough going at times, for several reasons. The main reason is that it portrays drug addiction in a pretty realistic fashion, showing that there is no easy way out of the situation for both the addict and his loved ones. Another reason is with the character of Richie. He is a pretty unlikable fellow, though after some time I realized that may have been the point, to show that drugs can make anyone into a repulsive sort of person. Benson gives an excellent performance as Richie, though Ben Gazarra also deserves kudos portraying the struggling father who is not completely sympathetic. If there is a flaw in the movie, it may be that it does not illustrate how Richie got into drugs in the first place - the movie starts in the middle of his addiction. Though I do realize that movies don't always have the time to show every detail of a situation.