What Richard Did is an uneven drama from Lenny Abrahamson. It does have a natural acting style which also renders it flat.

Teenager Richard (Jack Reynor) has a bright future ahead of him. Handsome, bright, well to do and he has a good bunch of friends. He likes to play rugby and is soon to start university.

At a party Richard gets into a fight with his girlfriend's ex. Conor (Sam Keeley) ends up dead the next day. Richard's friends threw a few punches but it seems Richard delivered the fatal kick. They all decide to keep shtum.

Richard suffers from a moral crisis. He confides in his father. The issue for Richard is that as he is not suspected by the police, does he hand himself in or sidestep justice altogether?

There are some interesting scenes. When Richard confesses to his father. When Conor's distressed mother makes an impassioned speech at his funeral service, incredulous as to how there were no witnesses in a house party.

However the film needed more dramatic tension. It is a slight morality tale that is well acted by its young cast.

Richard Karlsen is the golden-boy athlete and alpha-male of his set of South Dublin friends.

The summer between the end of school and the beginning of university is here, and the world is bright and everything seems possible.

That is until one summer night, Richard does something that destroys it all and shatters the lives of the people closest to him.....

Its a really difficult film to watch, it hangs a low mood from the offset, and just gets more and more maundering as the film reaches its climax.

But the subject matter is powerful, and the performances are brilliant, especially the lead. The split decision to kick a man in the head, will haunt the titular character forever.

The guilt will stay with him, and his family, but the fundamental thing about the act is the cowardice that was involved, giving a while new meaning to the phrase 'kick a man while he's down'.

So there's the added frustration of him doing it out of spite, and the character will always have that, 'what if I'd just walked away?'.

There are so many what ifs? In this movie, that it can get bogged down in its own preaching, but other than that, its a solid movie.

Lenny Abrahamson directed the excellent low budget Dublin film ADAM & PAUL so I was eager to see what this newer production was like. WHAT RICHARD DID isn't as good as that film, although it has some promise and typically realistic performances. The best thing about it is Abrahamson's moody direction, which makes you feel every moment of a torrid and emotional storyline.

Unfortunately, WHAT RICHARD DID is also rather slow and lacking in incident. The storyline is a very simple one that drags out a bit, especially in the latter half, and the almost entire lack of an ending is a disappointment in itself. It's a very realistic movie with a solid script, and Jack Reynor does well in a complex leading performance. But after ADAM & PAUL I expected more, and what I got was merely adequate.