The one problem I had with this film (besides the terrible moral message at the end. Why would you actually turn to a life of crime just to appease your daughter?) was that there wasn't enough Daryl Morrell (or Doherty as he was called at the time of this film).
For a film that sells itself as a film starring Daryl Morrell, there really isn't enough Daryl Morrell in it to keep most satisfied.
Instead, he appears in brief flashes (so brief, in fact, that you could argue that his entire appearance in the film is subliminal). That being said, however, the film was shot during a period in which Daryl had long hair and HIM hoodies. It's very unlikely that we'll ever see that Daryl Morrell again, so for that reason alone I almost recommend this film, because it's almost a zeitgeist piece. If the film offers nothing else, at least it has the claim to fame of being one of the few documented pieces to feature Daryl from that time. But, still, blink and you'll miss it.
Compare Daryl's role as Teen 1 in Claire Dix's "Free Chips Forever!" to his role as Graveyard Junkie in Aaron Kavanagh's "A Week in the Life of a Heroin Addict". Kavanagh's underrated piece about a secondary school teenager struggling with his week-long heroin addiction is only three minutes long. This is four times shorter than the twelve minute "Free Chips Forever!", yet Kavanagh's piece utilizes it's Daryl a lot more. While Daryl only appears on screen for about fifteen to twenty seconds, his character provides an impact on the story, killing off the main character that we spent the last two minutes and forty seconds getting to know and love. Add to this that Kavanagh was smart enough to add Daryl in another scene in the film. Little known fact, Daryl also plays a character in a locker scene in "Heroin Addict". Some have speculated that this is the same character that later goes on to kill the main character Greg, but Kavanagh has denied these rumours, insisting that he put Daryl in that scene just to see if people would notice. Another fun fact, Kavanagh's "Heroin Addict" is one of the only films to have a budget and a gross that are both negative numbers.
So, overall, I give this film a six out of ten. To future filmmakers, I say be sure to utilize your Daryl Morrells a lot more. I give it a six because, while I don't feel that the movie was deserving of this, I must admit that (and call this bias on my part) anything that features Daryl Morrell had to be more than just average.
For a film that sells itself as a film starring Daryl Morrell, there really isn't enough Daryl Morrell in it to keep most satisfied.
Instead, he appears in brief flashes (so brief, in fact, that you could argue that his entire appearance in the film is subliminal). That being said, however, the film was shot during a period in which Daryl had long hair and HIM hoodies. It's very unlikely that we'll ever see that Daryl Morrell again, so for that reason alone I almost recommend this film, because it's almost a zeitgeist piece. If the film offers nothing else, at least it has the claim to fame of being one of the few documented pieces to feature Daryl from that time. But, still, blink and you'll miss it.
Compare Daryl's role as Teen 1 in Claire Dix's "Free Chips Forever!" to his role as Graveyard Junkie in Aaron Kavanagh's "A Week in the Life of a Heroin Addict". Kavanagh's underrated piece about a secondary school teenager struggling with his week-long heroin addiction is only three minutes long. This is four times shorter than the twelve minute "Free Chips Forever!", yet Kavanagh's piece utilizes it's Daryl a lot more. While Daryl only appears on screen for about fifteen to twenty seconds, his character provides an impact on the story, killing off the main character that we spent the last two minutes and forty seconds getting to know and love. Add to this that Kavanagh was smart enough to add Daryl in another scene in the film. Little known fact, Daryl also plays a character in a locker scene in "Heroin Addict". Some have speculated that this is the same character that later goes on to kill the main character Greg, but Kavanagh has denied these rumours, insisting that he put Daryl in that scene just to see if people would notice. Another fun fact, Kavanagh's "Heroin Addict" is one of the only films to have a budget and a gross that are both negative numbers.
So, overall, I give this film a six out of ten. To future filmmakers, I say be sure to utilize your Daryl Morrells a lot more. I give it a six because, while I don't feel that the movie was deserving of this, I must admit that (and call this bias on my part) anything that features Daryl Morrell had to be more than just average.
