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Created Nov 25, 2007 05:21PM PST • Edited Nov 25, 2007 05:21PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Great 4.0

   David (Ullman) was very close to his older brother, Dean (Sams). He was in a rock band called 27. Dean always showed David a good time. However, Dean didn’t know how to slow down. He was addicted to drugs and went in to rehab. After he got out, he overdosed. David blamed himself for this since he wasn’t there when it happened. He thought that if he was maybe he could have saved his life. After he lost his brother, David became very depressed. He lost his best friend. This made him examine death. David thought that he might be better off if he was dead so he could be with Dean again. His parents found his journal which ventured in to some of these thoughts. They were terrified by this and became convinced that it meant that he was dangerous.
   The next thing David knew, his parents had shipped him off to Driftwood, a correctional facility for teenage boys. No one is welcoming to say the least. The Captain (Page) is a brutal man who is only satisfied by beating the boys and making them feel worthless. His young daughter, Myra (Neff) stays there along with the Captain’s assistant’s, Norris (Eigenberg) and Yates (Torriero). Yates is in charge of the level one boys, which includes David. Yates is violent and aggressive towards them, especially David though since he doesn’t hesitate to talk back to him. The other boys in David’s section don’t seem to be any nicer to him either.
   The only one who befriends him at all is Noah (Lelliot). He is shyer than the rest of the boys, partially because he has a hard time fitting in due to his homosexuality. The one good friend Noah did have at the facility was Jonathon (Ross). He was the Captain’s nephew and was enlisted in the program. His uncle was ashamed of him. One of David’s punishments was that he had to go through an obstacle course. The other boys in his section were forced to beat him up while he was doing so. The last time this happened it was with Jonathon, except baseball bats were used. It appeared that he was essentially beaten to death. This was just one of the many secrets covered up at Driftwood though. The boys have to go to classes all day, which attempt to strip them of who they are. They then have to work outside all day long. The boys parents are paying thousands of dollars a year for them to make the Captain money. They are just being used as free laborers. David is desperate to get out of Driftwood, but until that happens he attempts to figure out the truth of what happened with Jonathon. He begins to be haunted by his ghost. If he can find his body, there might be a chance for a long overdo change at Driftwood.

4. Acting

   Really Great 4.5

   Driftwood excels with a terrific cast. The cast is very diverse including a Disney channel star, a reality television star, and a professional wrestler. They all give great performances and make the film that much better. Ricky Ullman, star of the Disney show, Phil of the Future, shows great depth in Driftwood. His character isn’t as family friendly as some of his past have been. He is completely serious and is a very wounded character. He has already been through a lot and things are becoming worse and worse for him. He refuses to go along with the wrongs around him. David shows the strength to stand up and fight. Talan Torriero plays someone who is very wounded as well. However, rather than gaining strength through out the film he loses it and becomes weaker than ever. He puts up a fake toughness to gain respect and to feel superior. He used to be one of the kids that he is tormenting. He is just so afraid of being that sad, alone kid again that he is willing to become a very violent individual free of any solid morals to run from it. As his first movie, this is a great start for Torriero. Diamond Dallas Page brought the frightening and selfish Captain to life. He looked the part by his appearance alone. He became the Captain and he effectively reveled all of his deceit. Jeremy Lelliot is another actor who did a very good job with his role. His character, Noah, was extremely damaged. He is only at Driftwood because he is gay. Everyone is constantly trying to bring him down. Not to mention he has to live with the guilt of believing he killed the only friend he had, the one person who was like him. He transitions his story to David’s, which unravels the truth.

5. Male Stars Really Great 4.5

6. Female Stars Really Great 4.5

7. Female Costars Really Great 4.5

8. Male Costars Really Great 4.5

10. Film

    Perfect 5.0

    Tim Sullivan used his resources wisely. He shot the film in 15 days, which is really shocking since the quality suggests that much more time would have gone in to it to get the product that we did. Comparing Sullivan’s previous film, 2001 Maniacs and Driftwood is like day and night. 2001 Maniacs is a gory yet more comical horror film. There were a few scenes that had a decent amount of blood in Driftwood, but overall it is just a much more serious film exploring many different subjects and putting them in one tragic situation.

11. Direction Perfect 5.0

12. Play Perfect 5.0

13. Music Perfect 5.0

14. Visuals Perfect 5.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 3.2

    Driftwood is much more psychological than gory. The scene where David takes a bullet is fairly bloody, but not all of it is visual. The worst part is just in the intensity of how the Captain has treated the boys at times, in particular Jonathon and David.

17. Sex Erotic 3.2

18. Violence Brutal 3.2

19. Rudeness Profane 3.2

21. Reality

    Supernatural 3.3

    Driftwood qualifies as a supernatural film. This is only because the secrets are exposed through the ghost of a boy who had been killed there. There is a lot of truth in the film though. It based on the experience of a student of writer/director, Tim Sullivan‘s. The student dressed darkly and listened to metal music. So he was sent away to a correctional facility since his parents began to fear him. Driftwood bases itself with characters in a place like this. It exposes the horrors that are present. It was shot at Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility in California. Boys had been beaten, killed, and had committed suicide themselves to get rid of the misery that strangled them there. One thing the film deals with is the gap between teens and their parents. Teenagers seem to be misunderstood so easily. Any interest in something harmless like music, movies, or clothing that might resemble death can be interpreted as an inner violence. Rather than taking the time to understand kids, many parents can be more eager to just ship them off so they don’t have to deal with them.
    Columbine is a big subject in the film. The correctional facility uses the tragedy as propaganda. The Captain even says it is the best thing that happened for his business. It is all about personal gain and money to him. He really has no conscience as to the horrors he has committed and continues to commit. Columbine is also played out with the idea of blaming the media as the cause. The facility is really about stripping everyone of what makes them an individual. They teach you that being different or having your own voice shouldn’t be allowed. A lot of these kids have lost sight of who they are. Even if David could get out, does he have a true home to go back to? His mother is completely ignorant about him and his father doesn’t even know what color eyes he has. There is also the theme of imprisonment. These boys have no rights at all. Unless their parents decide to pull them out of the program, they are there until they are 18. Until then they have no legal rights. They belong to the Captain and his associates, freeing them to do anything they wish to the boys. Driftwood is in a world where no one can really be trusted, where secrets are buried and everyone is taken advantage of. It is a very serious and dramatic film that critiques judgments within our society with a supernatural edge.

22. Circumstantial Supernatural 3.3

23. Biological Supernatural 3.3

24. Physical Supernatural 3.3