dariusgoeswest

Review:
Logan Smalley’s Darius Goes West is a film that is greater than the sum of its parts. That always sounds like a backhanded compliment, but in all fairness, when you break this documentary down, there isn’t much to rave about and yet you still can’t help feeling changed by what you’ve seen. Is this the film of a lifetime? No, but for what it is, it’s every bit as good as you’d hope.
So how can a film be greater than its parts? Well in the case of Darius Goes West it’s the soul of the project that sets it apart. In this case, Smalley does an excellent job highlighting the bond Darius Weems and his friends have. Unlike most caretakers, you can tell this group really likes hanging out together. It truly is not a case of charity, but rather an adventure. The college-boy type bond manifests itself in many ways, whether it’s the Jackass-like moment of getting Darius to eat wasabi, that one guy who gets a “Darius goes west” tattoo, or the simple fact that for some odd reason the entire film seems like a series of inside jokes and stories. The best part about this documentary is you as an audience member feel like the new guy to this group of lifelong friends and that should warm your heart to know these men truly care about each other.
And you’ll need this warm feeling to smooth over the rough parts. Whether it’s the odd introduction, the sporadic discussion of wheelchair accessibility and muscular dystrophy or some unfocused camerawork, there are enough mistakes to remind you this isn’t a masterpiece.
But then again, who cares? In the end, you’re here for the story and Darius’ adventure will tug at your heartstrings on multiple occasions. Yes, there are some sad moments but it’s amazing to see and feel the joy Darius and his friends are radiating throughout the entire documentary. 20 minutes into the film and you’ll stop caring about the mistakes and just appreciate the story and for that reason you have to be impressed with Darius Goes West.
My hope is, after seeing a film like this, there will be future and/or follow up documentaries on muscular dystrophy. This is a groundwork film (not groundbreaking), existing to set up future films and projects and one can hope other documentaries can channel the power of Darius Goes West. After all, Darius traveled to inspire change in a young generation’s thinking about muscular dystrophy and while much has yet to be changed, getting people to simply watch his story could do wonders to affecting people’s mindsets.

Review by Matthew Abshire

Informative: 3.5 – does a very good job detailing the adventure
Entertainment: 4 – a cross country road trip to get a wheelchair pimped out; do you need more convincing?
Technical: 2.5 – it’s simple with its share of mistakes, but nothing that will ruin the film
Overall: 3.5 – simple, but amazing story that will inspire and hopefully affect change

Format: DVD
Year: 2006
Running Time: 85 Min
Distributor: Roll with Me Productions
Producer: Julia Eisenman and Greg Schenz
Director: Logan Smalley
Date Reviewed: 11-29-2009

Story: Boldly going where they've never gone before, wheelchair-bound teenager Darius Weems and a small army of his closest friends rent an RV and drive from Georgia to Los Angeles to raise awareness about muscular dystrophy … but that's only half of their mission. Improbable as it sounds, the boys are also hoping to persuade MTV's "Pimp My Ride" to trick out Darius's ho-hum wheelchair (NetFlix).