Drunk, Driving, and 17

There was no single villain in this film about the pitfalls of driving under the influence. Martha and Tim Wright were the parents who insisted that the drunken kids spend the night in their home in lieu of driving. But it was certainly a lapse on the part of Marta and Tim to leave their car keys in plain sight for the use of any inebriated teenager. The Wrights' son Daniel unceremoniously dumped his girlfriend of two years after Kim was not accepted at Stanford like him. He kissed another young woman at the party, then cravenly encouraged Kim to play chug-a-lug. There was a sensitive performance by the actress playing Kim, who became the most memorable character in the film. It was Kim who took the keys to the car and in her erratic driving left young Joey Portillo a cripple. But, along with the Wrights, Kim eventually takes responsibility for her actions and tries to make amends with Joey and the Portillo family. The only shortcoming of the film was the avoidance of confronting the current loose application of the law when it comes to DUIs in major American cities. The prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Francisco have become so lax that the strong message of this film about the tragic outcomes of drunken driving gets lost in the politically-driving judges diluting the letter of the law. The DUIs are now being let off with a slap of the wrist. For the birthplace of MADD, that should be a black eye on California and as sobering an experience as the viewing this fine film.

There was no single villain in this film about the pitfalls of driving under the influence. Martha and Tim Wright were the parents who insisted that the drunken kids spend the night in their home in lieu of driving. But it was certainly a lapse on the part of Marta and Tim to leave their car keys in plain sight for the use of any inebriated teenager. The Wrights' son Daniel unceremoniously dumped his girlfriend of two years after Kim was not accepted at Stanford like him. He kissed another young woman at the party, then cravenly encouraged Kim to play chug-a-lug. There was a sensitive performance by the actress playing Kim, who became the most memorable character in the film. It was Kim who took the keys to the car and in her erratic driving left young Joey Portillo a cripple. But, along with the Wrights, Kim eventually takes responsibility for her actions and tries to make amends with Joey and the Portillo family. The only shortcoming of the film was the avoidance of confronting the current loose application of the law when it comes to DUIs in major American cities. The prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Francisco have become so lax that the strong message of this film about the tragic outcomes of drunken driving gets lost in the politically-driving judges diluting the letter of the law. The DUIs are now being let off with a slap of the wrist. For the birthplace of MADD, that should be a black eye on California and as sobering an experience as the viewing this fine film.