The title of this Irish film, What Richard did, contains the excitement right from before you start watching. A neat trick, if you like to create interest, and this does the trick. The script is based on a novel "Bad day in Block Rock" by Kevin Power, which again was inspired by real events.The film invited us into some youngsters every day Irish life, just outside Dublin. 18 year old Richard Karlsen, obviously the main character, is a sympathetic sports (rugby) guy, and what you would reckon a young alpha male. Irish mother, Danish father, living a normal life. Attractive, serious, sportive and a leader of the pack of youngsters. Not a smoker, but still does, occasionally. Well we're introduced to his holiday life during summer. Happy non important days around a guy with has everything going for him. Even gets a girlfriend, which seems like a perfect match to him.Great acting all over. Jack Reynor is amazing, and so is his father, Danish Lars Mikkelsen, as always. They're important, but the whole cast is brilliant, which tells us what a great instructor the director Lenny Abrahamson obviously is. Very true, very realistically told, and as far away from what would have been told in a Hollywood film as possible. A very accurate portrait. The film does a terrific job in introducing us to the persons gallery. Beautifully told, and obviously very important if you want to make a film like this with a real punch.I love realistically told movies like this. We really get inside Richard's feelings, the agonizing pain he suffers from afterwards. The despair. Slowly told, using a lot of silence, this might not be suitable for the one's seeking action. This is a drama which outright tells what a situation like this is, not putting in extra dramatically points to color up the story. I lived the way the camera is used to express thoughts and feeling, showing how it is to be living with guilt.The film has a very important message. It's very easy to do acts under the influence of alcohol. It may ruin lives in just a bad decision. Things like thick force not only have one victim, is has several, and it'll also easily ruin both the innocence, the friendship and at least a part of the future, making marks which never fully mend. There's many living with this pain around, a pain which will always be there.

"What Richard Did", which I saw as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival, is a low-key but very powerful and morally complex film.It features an excellent performance from newcomer Jack Reynor. While his titular character is obviously charismatic and charming throughout, Reynor's performance explores the depth of the character, particularly his restrained rage. There's a scene near the end of the film where he breaks down alone in his family's beach house, and it's truly heartbreaking and memorable. You really feel for the character's plight throughout the movie.My only real complaint would be, by contrast, the performance of Lars Mikkelsen. He's not a good crier at all and one key scene in the film almost had me laughing because of his acting. A small flaw in an otherwise highly recommended movie.

I was really rooting for this film despite it's unoriginal 'accidental killer' plot. Narrative was really weak and I was expecting a new and original take on the 'tortured teens'emotional journey in the aftermath of the event..It did try at times. The scene with his dad could have been so much more touching and effective but it lacked depth & substance. Too many long silences and weak dialogue.I understand what it was TRYING to portray, it just didn't have much of an emotional punch nor did I feel drawn to any characters...Well maybe the dad, a bit. For me, the ending was a complete cop out..Was left wondering what the point was..If the director was trying to convey any kind of moral to the story, I missed it.

It is hard to like this film to begin with - populated as it is by barely grunting hormone fuelled teenagers. Scriptless, it is dependent upon standard Irish bonhomie to convey the 'closeness' of the characters. The Irish are word-smiths to a one - how on earth did this production manage to emasculate their speech? Come on, English subtitles would have been preferable to this - let's just hug one another instead of exchanging words, poetic phrases etc. After rather too long we then learn that we have a love triangle. We have a character who wants the world to be exactly as he plans it. We have a character who can't make up her mind. We have a character who knows his mind and is being foiled by those who don't. We then witness what happens when alcohol is added to the mix. We then see how each character dissembles embroiling others in their deceits. Suddenly, this sleeper of a film packs a volley of knock-out punches. Hell, this story has got legs after all.