I caught the film at it's Sundance Film Festival Premiere where it one a special jury prize. I was blown away by the honesty of Rick Kirkham's video diaries and the non-obtrusive nature of the editing that the director's imposed on the film. It felt like I was watching one uncut take that literally went on for 30 years. There was no emotion forced on the story other than what played out in front of the camera. On the other hand instead of a standard documentary it felt very much like a narrative film with no voice over and very few cards to explain the story. Like life there is no build up of music before a big moment and no slow motion. Life happens and it is over, both the good and the bad in a split second. It is our choices that define our existence. Rick chose never to watch his footage and he never learned from his life, I'm glad we were able to.
Interestingly we watched the film again lately with a large group at AFI Fest. The cut was different, tighter and more focused. While I cant tell you what I missed from the earlier cut I do know that a diary where Rick confesses his attempted murder of a family member really spiced up the last few minutes of the film. From what I heard at the Q and A HBO will be showing this in March as part of an 11 part addiction series. If the rest of the series is this good I'll be watching HBO in March.
Interestingly we watched the film again lately with a large group at AFI Fest. The cut was different, tighter and more focused. While I cant tell you what I missed from the earlier cut I do know that a diary where Rick confesses his attempted murder of a family member really spiced up the last few minutes of the film. From what I heard at the Q and A HBO will be showing this in March as part of an 11 part addiction series. If the rest of the series is this good I'll be watching HBO in March.