The Death of Richie

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.

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 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.

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+

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.