Description

Based on the 1973 non-fiction book Richie, this powerful film, with its unexpected ending, was no “after-school special.” Robbie Benson plays a troubled teen descending into a world of drug addiction and depression, dragging his entire family down with him. In the role of his parents, Eileen Brennan and Ben Gazzara, in particular, are superb—as is Benson. After the smiley-face 1960s, the dark reality of drug use really began to surface in the 70s, and this film provided one of the first, and most harshly accurate, depictions.