User Reviews

T.V. movies have always taken from real life headlines to tell a story of society's destruction's through various means, and if at times seemed to be exploitative, there could be something to learn from those situations. Richie, here with a fictitious last name, is not a normal teenager facing coming if age issues. He is established as already being involved with the wrong crowd, and an early confrontation with his father reveals that there are bigger problems ahead. It's both embarrassing and destructive for the family, but efforts are made to fix the problems without success. No reason is explained for the problem, and that's where the reality hits. Often with teenagers, it's a larger problem than simple peer pressure or lack of direction or horrible self esteem. The human psyche is not easy to unravel when the individual can't even figure it out themselves.

I am looking at this as not the story of the real Richie who was killed by his own father in self defense, but a variation of the story told to give a well rounded view of what could have happened in any family. Today, there are different styles of family structures, but this was "traditional" 70's with a tough father (Ben Gazzara) trying his best to see things in larger terms than his own anger, and a mother (Eileen Brennan) who could easily be destroyed by her son's decent into drug addiction. Robby Benson is an actor who leaves behind a mixed reaction from his body of work, but I always found him natural and human, not at all "actorish". He goes out of his way to install understanding into Richie, and for me, that made his performance seem just fine and often traumatic and tense.

I could never stick my nose into the personal traumas of families who have gone through a trauma like this, but if this kept kids off of drugs after this aired, then it served a purpose no matter what the motivation for writing it was. Certainly not a T.V. classic, it's exactly like the exploitation movies of the 1930's on that took serious subjects like this to dramatize as a warning. Unlike those, however, I see this minus all the nonsense that made those unrealistic. I saw enough similar situations to view this as closer to life, and so many lost lives or promising futures destroyed simply by the need for a quick escape.

I remember seeing this film when it was originally broadcast in 1977. It is based on article in Life Magazine about a true story. Thomas Thompson later turned it into a book. It is one of the most intense, emotional stories ever told. You see the disaster coming, and, yet, you know there is no way to stop it. You feel as helpless as Richie's Mom and Dad, and Richie himself. I would like to go on the record and disagree with others: there are no villains in this story(unless it is drugs), only victims. I remember identifying with Richie's brother Russ. I felt his sense of helplessness. He loved his brother, but he knew there was nothing he could do to help him. There is a powerful scene in which Russ begs his brother to quit taking drugs. If Richie's expression and pain could have been translated into action, he would have quit right then and there. I believe that Richie's Mom, Dad and brother, Russ, loved him with all their hearts. There was an incredibly moving scene in which Richie is talking to his Dad about how unloved he feels, his father breaks down and cries with his son. And every effort Richie makes to get his life straightened out comes up short. Although Richie really does try to fight his drug addiction, in the end it is all for naught. The drugs were stronger than he was.

It will haunt you forever that Dad, Ben Gazzara, has to shoot Richie in self-defense. This is as great a human tragedy as has ever been told. And one of two magnificent performances by Robbie Benson. His other "Death Be Not Proud".

Everyone connected to this film should be proud. I saw it once 25 years ago, and remember it almost word for word. There aren't many films which can make that claim. Its sad that such a powerful story has been forgotten and overlooked. It shouldn't be.

I think the book was more insightful than the film as it showed more of the events that led up to this...and not to defend drugs but I really have to say that there was more to it than that.

George Diener (the supposed real name of the father) was a sort of 'What I say goes' and 'You DARE to defy me?' type and that would naturally play havoc with the personality of anyone in the most difficult of their teen years. I mean, I'm not saying that he pushed his son into drugs and a life of crime, but I think his sort of sternness would at least make any 16 year-old want to say 'Why don't you F--- OFF?!!!'

Another thing I found was that the film version tended to follow a REEFER MADNESS formula (I remember when I was in college, we deliberately planned to smoke while we watched this after seeing the coming attractions...so we could laugh at the exaggerations...and there WERE plenty). I mean, in the book the writer was more explanatory in that he'd smoked several times since he was 14 (which WAS still unusual as it was for 1966, so it figures that Brick was a hood) and acid, speed, heroin, etc., followed. What appeared to be implied was that Richie became a deranged would-be killer from the first puff, with some help from a little speed...and unless you're a total maniac in the first place, that's almost never the case.

I really think that the way the film depicted the situation belonged more in the '50s. As this was 1977 (or '73 for the book), if they really wanted to warn kids away, they should have focused on what came in between. Really!!!

Thomas Thompson wrote Richie, all about the death of George Richard "Richie" Diener Jr. At the hands of his father, who was not charged with the shooting death of his son. The TV movie is directed by Paul Wendkos, who also made another great drug movie, Cocaine: One Man's Seduction. He also directed the remake of The Bad Seed and The Mephisto Waltz, among many more movies.

Richie Werner (Robby Benson) and his friends only care about getting high, which means more than school, work or anything else. That's something his father George (Ben Gazzara) can't understand, that his mother Carol (Eileen Brennan) attempts to and that he himself tries to shield his brother Russell (Lance Kerwin) from.

Richie and his dad do at times get along, like when he gets a job working at a fast food place and when he's trying to win the heart of Sheila (Cynthia Eilbacher). Yet their relationship is often one of near violence and constant arguments. By the end, Richie is taking handfuls of Secobarbital and threatening his dad with a pair of scissors, telling him he doesn't have it in him to shoot him. He does, cut to a funeral.

I'm maddest at Sheila, who went from a cute date to telling Richie she already had a guy to finally reading Psalm 23 at his gravesite. You know when he needed you, Sheila? When he was taking handfuls of pills and smoking that reefer.

The sound of Richie yelling and the loud gun blast upset so many people that it was edited from future showings of this on TV. Speaking of being out of control, Richie's thug friend Brick grew up to be Roger Rabbit. Yeah, Charles Fleischer. And his friend Peanuts? Clint Howard. No wonder his dad was worried, those are some insane friends.

Troubled, confused, insecure teenager Richie (a stunningly fine and moving performance by Robbie Benson) feels unloved, unwanted and alienated, so he becomes dangerously involved with drugs. His stern, abusive, overbearing father (superbly played by Ben Gazzara) and overprotective mother (the equally excellent Eileen Brennan) try to help Richie, but when conventional methods of aid prove ineffectual poor Richie's drug habit spirals out of control, thereby leading to a shocking and tragic conclusion.

Splendidly directed with great care and restraint by Paul Wendkos, with a smart, thoughtful and commendably unsentimental script by John McGreevey, slick photography by Robert B. Hauser, and a spare, melancholy score by Fred Karlin, this strong and gripping cautionary tale about the perils of drug addiction and the severe damage it can inflict on a family packs quite a devastating emotional punch. Besides addressing drug addiction with admirable acuity and matter-of-factness, this film further illustrates the damage wrought by the lack of intimacy and communication between kids and their parents. If Richie's father especially hadn't been so strict and spent more time with his son, then maybe he would have never turned to drugs to alleviate his pain and frustration. Benson and Gazzara are exceptional in their demanding parts. They receive terrific support from Lance Kerwin as Richie's concerned younger brother, Cindy Eibacher as Richie's sweet girlfriend, and Charles Fleischer and Clint Howard as two of Richie's druggie pals (peer pressure also clearly plays a substantial part in Richie's descent into substance abuse). Heartbreaking and unforgettable, "The Death of Richie" rates highly as an extremely poignant and hauntingly sad 70's made-for-TV movie classic which has lost none of its considerable potency throughout the years.

I've always thought that this movie was a little gem, detailing a very painful story and trying diligently to handle a sensitive and difficult issue, especially so close in time to the actual tragedy. I just finished reading the book "Richie". I would caution those people making comments about the real life situation to read the book and not make judgments about the case solely from the movie. The movie stays fairly true to the book, with a few changes and lots of other info omitted that, when reading up on it, helps to fill in some of the whys and wherefores, although nothing could totally explain it all (certainly, a movie can't include all info, so I am not meaning to slam the movie here). A very important fact omitted, IMHO, is how the youth culture was totally awash in 'downers' during that time (those involved in the 'drug war' then concentrated on pot, LSD and heroin as the triumvirate of demon drugs, and seemed somewhat in denial regarding abuse of pharmaceutical substances, tackling it with seeming half-hearted gestures). Couple the greater societal contingencies with this type of drug being a drug of choice for Richie -- not the only drug he used/abused, by the way -- but certainly a 'demon' drug for him, and you have some of the mixings for what later followed.

Also briefly detailed in the book are the horrible withdrawal symptoms from Seconal and other downers, while at the same time the kids thought that they weren't addicting. Horrible stuff! Also included is some info about why pills were particularly appealing to the 'heads' of the time (which I won't detail here). Suffice it to say that, along with the 'other' drugs of the time, kids would willy-nilly experiment with a very addicting, very altering and very powerful substance, that was overly prescribed, with the glut of oversupply sold to other countries at cut-rate prices by the pharmaceutical industries, only to be smuggled back into the USA and then sold on the streets to kids who had the lunch money and inclination to buy them, then becoming dependent and addicted to substances that they thought were just 'kicks'. Parents and society at large were left in the dust regarding the rapidly spiraling influx of available, multiple substances to abuse coupled with the seemingly overnight cultural changes that aided and abetted the current drug scene, and left with kids they did not even recognize.

I think many of us have known people who couldn't handle one type of drug or another more than most, such as the person who can't just drink one drink, and when drinking becomes a raging, wired up maniac. This is not to say that only people who can seemingly 'handle' a certain drug should take that drug, but that some drugs have exaggerated effects on people that aren't seen in others who take the same drug. So it seems was the case with Richie and the 'reds' and 'yellows'.

In the book, the reader also gets a neat little backstory on Richie's parents, that helps to frame who they are other than just 'those parents'. Richie and his father, at least in the book, seem to be two cut from the same cloth, just growing up in different times with different temptations. Also included is something that I had always wondered about -- why didn't the dad just shoot to wound? -- he gives a very brief explanation in the book.

Overall, a sad, sad tale. Richie would be around 52 years old today, had he survived the 1970's. No telling what would have happened to him had he lived. He may have straightened up, as he seemed wanting to do at the end of his brief life, gotten married and had his own family. There is a little bit of info about what happened to a few of his friends later, but because the book was written in that decade, there is no way of telling what happened to them eventually, without knowing them, and where they are now, even if they survived. I personally have lost friends early in their young lives to similar types of drug abuse and related violence, or later to the harm they did to their psyches/bodies (today's partier can be tomorrow's drunk/drug addict). In the book, you also get some info about how violent Richie was at the time with other folks, including other kids; he was not just aggressive toward his father. He was very altered, and probably did not even know what hit him down in the basement. Very sad. A perfect storm of tragic events.

The Death of Richie is a landmark TV movie about the downward spiral of a teenager on drugs and the insurmountable pain it brings to his hurt, helpless, parents. This film was a powerhouse in terms of its acting and incredible storytelling. It remains just as brilliant and true to life today. Nothing is held back in this movie. Nothing! Robbie Benson as Richie and Ben Gazzara as his strict but loving father, deliver Oscar-Winning caliber performances! The hurt and the pain in this heartbreaking film is so real that viewers will remember this film for the rest of their lives! Based on an actual case and best selling book in the 1970's, "Richie" the violence and abuse that Richie caused himself and his family speaks volumes. When Richie becomes so violent and abusive to his father, tearing the family apart beyond any hope of reconciliation, the father and Richie, both in a fit of rage, reach a boiling point where Richie's Dad is forced to shoot his own son.

In the actual case, the grand jury did not indict Richie's father for the killings, citing self-defense was necessary by the father to protect him and the family from the pain that Richie's tragic and horrifying drug use caused.

Everyone who has a child, a parent, any friend or relative with substance abuse problems, please do yourself a favor and see this movie! It will open everyone's eyes to the horror that drug addiction can do to yourself and those you love. That the damage from such an addiction can become a disease, which left unchecked and not treated, can leave such indescribable horror for everyone, resulting in tragic consequences that can never be repaired.

One spoiler side-note: The dramatic ending of Richie screaming as his father shoots him was shown when the film first premiered in January, 1977 on NBC. I will never forget that ending! The one problem is that the NBC censors thought Richie's scream was too painful of an ending, so they edited it out of all future airings. This was a very stupid mistake on NBC's part. This film was just too good and had such an emotional message when it premiered that to cut ANYTHING from this movie would deviate from the power of the original version. If the DVD comes out, NBC should restore Richie's scream at the end. It tied-in all the pain and intensity of this TV movie masterpiece!

My rating is 9 stars for the current version, and 10 stars for the completely unedited version, which hopefully will soon be available again!

This is just about the saddest movie I have ever seen.And whats worse is that it happened in 1972. I actually watched this movie with my mother and we both wept. Even at the beginning of the film the viewer can see the disaster coming. Ben Gazzara and Robbie Benson did a superb job as father and son although it hurts to watch the two of them interact sometimes.

I have one serious issue here. Why did the entire family ( and I mean everybody) go to therapy? The mother (played by Eileen Brennan) could have played a pivatol role here and made everyone go. I felt desperately sorry for her character to be that torn between my husband and my son. However she should have taken much stronger action than she did. Having a strict father and a loving but ineffectual mother contributed to the tragedy. And don't even start me on Richie's 'friends'. Believe me no one needs friends like this.

I've considered writing a book in the future based on this tragedy but there's a third child in the family who goes off to Brown University, then to Cornell to vet school and becomes Providence, Rhode Island's most beloved veterinarian. The book would be written in first person and her first comment is ' When I was thirteen my family was destroyed by a horrible tragedy. I should be in a mental hospital. But instead I went to Brown University and graduated first in my class.