What Richard Did

2012
6.3| 1h27m| en| More Info
Released: 09 September 2012 Released
Producted By: Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland
Country: Ireland
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

What Richard Did is a striking portrait of the fall of a Dublin golden-boy and high school rugby star whose world unravels one summer night.

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Reviews

Harockerce What a beautiful movie!
Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story
Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.
Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
pc95 Aside from the fairly poor pacing, "What Richard Did" suffers from too much character mumbling between one another - often difficult to understand. It is supposed to be a dilemma type story, but it falls short. As others have mentioned correctly, it has decent camera-work but mediocre dialog. There is a lot of anxiety and some wild fits, but it doesn't have a lot to itself - developmentally it's sparse. Director Lenny Abrahamson, needs clearer and more strongly defined characters from the start with better story concept. To add there is little sympathy for the main character's predicament anyway as he rejects some standard social rules and etiquette - namely you don't date or beguile another person's mate whilst still in a relationship. Very little integrity. 5.5/10 Not recommended
eddie_baggins An understated, meticulously made Irish film, What Richard Did is a haunting tale that is in its structure too cold for its own good but also in scenes that can only be provided as gut wrenchingly raw impressively effective and a showcase for the young acting talent that is Jack Reynor.A major hit in its home country upon release and later on in its life cleaning up at the 2013 Irish Film and Television Awards with 5 big wins, Lenny Abrahamson's (keep an eye on this filmmaker with his upcoming film Frank creating some very decent hype) film is a unique and realistic look into a young life that will forever be changed due to the films centring act that is based upon an all too familiar true life event. The film asks a lot of its audience in its short 80 minute run time as director Lenny Abrahamson is in no hurry to tell the tale of Richard. The film doesn't adhere to normal narrative structure and we don't know a whole lot about who Richard or others in the film are yet what we do end up knowing about them is just enough to care and be affected by their situations that play out in such a realism that it would be impossible not to be moved by the occurrences. Abrahamson can take credit for this but major notices must be made of the films young star Reynor as the titular Richard.Reynor's performance in What Richard Did was enough to not only earn him praise in his home country but subsequent to the success of this venture Reynor moved straight into big screen behemoth Transformers: Age of Extinction and will likely be seen in more of the same to come. Reynor is a revelation here as the smart, in love and eventually tortured young man displaying a wide range of acting attributes that suggest a long career is to follow. A scene towards the later part of the film at Richard's family's beach house is particularly impressive with Reynor expressing a burst of internal emotion that will leave you feeling just as shell-shocked as the young man is.Professionally filmed, scored to perfection and acted with class from all involved What Richard Did is a fine film that is held back its sparseness at times and a conclusion that feels like a missed opportunity to provide something truly heart wrenching. For a film about youth and all the troubles that can come with it and a tale about life changing decisions it is top quality stuff and it's always a joy to see a new young actor of considerable talent ply their trade and set their career on a path that hopefully makes good use of some undeniable talent.3 and a half Irish beers out of 5For more movie reviews and opinions check out -www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com
JvH48 I saw this film at the Ghent (Belgium) film festival 2013, where it was part of the Global Cinema section. The descriptions on festival website, Facebook and IMDb sounded intriguing. But I can tell upfront that it was a disappointment, after all. The movie starts wrong, letting us endure half an hour of tittle-tattle, partying etcetera, which time could have been spent more fruitfully. It was probably meant to gradually introduce the characters involved. It did not work for me. I got lost in the process to remember who would become important for the plot, and who was just entourage. After that, there were a few potentially memorable moments, but the film makers missed all the opportunities without exception.Some examples of what I found wrong:Firstly, the mother of the victim held an impressive and moving speech in church during the memorial service. This could have been the trigger for interesting developments, but it was not. It should have been placed much sooner in the script anyway, and could have been the perfect point where people start fighting with their conscience, and contemplating arguments pro and con, so that we can feel along with their reasoning.Secondly, the conversation with his father where Richard finally confesses what has happened, is also poorly written and executed. The intro about the tree house is negligent and a waste of time. It is still not clear to me how and why Richard decided to confess, being visibly hesitant at first. He evenly could have chosen to lie to his father and deny every involvement.Thirdly, several friends of Richard knew more or less what happened, and one of them could have leaked the truth by accident (to police, to parents, to other friends, whatever). Conversely, they all saw the victim standing up again after the confrontation, but wasted that observation to defend themselves to everyone why they did not make an issue out of the fight and check the victim's condition, or even call anonymously for an ambulance.Finally, the police investigation falters for reasons unclear to us. This could have been exploited much better while Richard's friends knew more of the fatal accident than they told the police. This could have been excellent material for a so-called prisoner's dilemma. Alas, the police was not that competent in the case at hand, and this opportunity also got wasted.At first sight it does not seem useful to add my user review to the many that already appear on IMDb, given already a few as negative as I am. On the other hand, their negativism has many other reasons than I had, so the above may be useful for some readers anyway. This film received a lowly 50th place for the audience award, with score 3.64 out of 5.
aequus314 The calm, composed quality about Malcolm Campbell's screenplay, is that it casts no immediate judgment on something committed by Richard Karlsen. Ambiguous film title is succinct, yet enough because it raises three simple questions, each substantially more important than the other as the plot unfolds and your curiosity piques — who is Richard, what exactly did he do and why did he do it.Jack Reynor is lead character in this loose adaptation of a novel by Kevin Powell, Bad Day in Blackrock. Meet Richard, epitome of born winners in post-Tiger Dublin. Privileged millennial soaking in the comforts of upper-middle class. Pre-university, popular but somewhat elusive, likable, virile star captain of the rugby team. Alpha male among a pack of young Irish blood just like himself. They are well- heeled teenagers with bright yuppie lives ahead of them, and this summer, Richard spends it like any teenager would: attending parties and keeping his boys out of trouble.So early on and yet, Richard lives a rewarding life full of promises. The turning point being that one day, Lara (Roisin Murphy) finally meets his gaze of male desire. Both are visibly entranced and reasonably soon, they get together. Life tastes sweeter when you're a handsome couple but something happens one night, and it alarms Richard. He considers the gravity of this transgression with as much clarity as he could.In this sophisticated post-genre directed by Lenny Abrahamson, a critical yet low-key scene between Richard and his father (Lars Mikkelsen, elder brother of Mads) suggests the rational imminent and unavoidable. From time to time, we observe Richard's rage and self- reproach, before finally considering his vulnerability as a by-product of larger socio-economic forces. I've heard negative feedback deploring What Richard Did for a lack of closure or resolution but more to the point, what would I have done? An intelligent, troubling litmus test for Kantians.cinemainterruptus.wordpress.com