Review of Bad Ronald (1974) by Freddie F — 27 Mar 2010

Saying "Bad Ronald" is an obscure movie is an understatement. Saying it's excellent is an understatement as well, because this is a truly amazing film. It tells the story of a dorky teenager who lives with his loving mother. He has the hots for a girl, but she laughs in his face. A kid makes fun of him and his mom, so he pushes her to the ground, and she unfortunately dies.

The rest of the movie is about Ronald's isolation as his mother hides him in the walls of their house to prevent him being caught and arrested. Oftentimes movies about insanity are overplayed and become cliched, but "Bad Ronald" makes it's protagonist real. We love him as an audience because we can relate to his struggle with adolescence and his painful reality where nobody loves him but his mother. As we see Ronald lose it more and more we feels sorry for him, because he never really did anything wrong in the first. The whole thing progresses alongside the metaphor of Ronald's self-imagined Narnia-esque fantasy which becomes more and more real for him.

For a made for TV movie from the 70's "Bad Ronald" is above and beyond what would be expected. Even the music is great and during certain sequences it adds to an amazing atmosphere where the viewer feels tension and suspense build. The beauty of the film is in this suspense and, without ruining any plot details, in the way everything turns out, in an anti-climactic and bizarre manner.

I've been wanting to see "Bad Ronald" for a while now, based on several recommendations and reviews that were as positive as the one I'm writing now. It's a difficult film to find, but if you get the chance to see it then don't turn it down. If nothing else "Bad Ronald" is unique and a strangely heartwarming and emotional movie.