Watch What Richard Did For Free

Wow, this is a REALLY bad movie!

Touches You

just watch it!

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

I definitely sought this out because I was a big fan of the director's recent film Room. His directorial hand is sort of similar here, in terms of giving a lot of weight and true significant to the little details in character interactions, and in terms of each half of the film being primarily centered around a different development (although the first half of this is basically set-up and character development so the second half hits harder, and boy does it do a great job of that). I thought all of the performances here were very refined and pretty realistic. The actors do a great job of really inhabiting their characters and making the most out of small moments with he director's help. Overall, very effective film, moves along nicely and a very powerful morality act. That ending is genius.

Richard is an affable Irish senior, on the brink of the rest of his life. He finds love, has good friends, loving parents. It's all rainbows and butterflies - until a surprising accident throws his entire future off course. Or so we think? I think the problem with this film isn't that it's badly made, it's just that it didn't exactly NEED to be made. This story has been told before, in better (even more illustrative ways). I kept expecting the rug to be pulled from under many a few times during it but I was never surprised, just continually disappointed. And quite frankly - bored. Furthermore--and this is something that struck me as odd and disappointing--I remember seeing quite a similar film (in terms of plot and imagery) called 'Paranoid Park'. It came out in 2007, and was directed by (you guessed it?) - Gus Van Sant. It was a little ball of atmosphere, full of subtle beautiful music and ambient colours. Sparse dialogue, too, but it had a slow startling impact on me, near the end. Still, it wasn't exemplary or particularly memorable. 'What Richard Did' follows the exact cookie-cutter formula (as niche as that sounds)- to an even more underwhelming effect. I doubt I'll remember it a week from now. The dialogue was stilted (more unrealistic than realistic, ironically), the characters were neither sympathetic or unsympathetic. They were just.. blank. I didn't really care what happened to any of them by the end, and guess what - not much did. I'd say if you love laboriously prolonged scenes and the odd scenic take, watch this. Else - you're wasting your time.2/10

A mostly excellent Irish film about a double murderer (one gerbil, one human) and the effect that seemingly small acts can have in the immediate and long term.The Richard of the title is an 18yr old lad from a good family living in an idyllic portrait of youth: beach parties, disposable income, good looks, popularity, mobility and a bright looking future.One night, he attends a party where alcohol blurs perception and emotions run high, leading to an (unintentionally) fatal confrontation. The remainder of the film is an exploration of how Richard deals with the repercussions of his actions and highlights the burden of guilt he carries.The acting, by the whole cast, is superb, and elevates what could be a mundane film into the realms of a highly recommended one.Originally posted at: http://filmplop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/050213- what-richard-did-2012.html

This movie is a slow moving drama that puts its "hero" in a horrific moral dilemma of his own making and examines his actions. I found it impossible not to wonder what I would do if I was in a similar position, which I presume is what the director wanted.The main character, Richard, seems to have it all. He is a young man from a privileged Dublin background who has just finished secondary school. He was captain of the school rugby team and is universally liked by everyone. He seems set for an enjoyable summer before he starts university. At a party he meets the girlfriend of a teammate. He "fancies" her and after a while they start going out.At a later party Richard and the ex-boyfriend exchange harsh words and things soon get out of hand and the ex-boyfriend dies. The authorities don't know who is responsible. Richard has to decide what he will do. We watch him wrestle with the dilemma of giving up his rosy future by admitting the truth or doing nothing and hoping it will all fade away.There are great performances all round from the cast, especially Jack Reynor in the lead role. Lenny Abrahamson is one of the great Irish directors with movies such as "Garage" and "Adam and Paul" and this movie is up to that high standard.