DGW IN THE L.A. TIMES

August 29, 2007

We have arrived! Check out this amazing Los Angeles Times article about Darius Goes West. You can't BUY publicity like this! Woo-hoo! Thank you, Karen Day, for an incredible job!

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-darius29aug29,1,714178.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Filmmakers of "Darius Goes West" set a goal of pimping his wheelchair, but
accomplish so much more.

By Karen Day, Special to The Times

August 29, 2007

TOWARD the end of "Darius Goes West," the young man who is the subject of
the documentary states matter-of-factly, "People want to be me." Unless you
are Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt or blind drunk, few of us could make this
claim, but Darius is proved right by the cheering crowds waving at the
wheelchair-bound teenager in this unexpected documentary.

Equal parts "Animal House," and "Stand by Me," this buddy flick tells the
story of 12 college-age students who contrive with great expectations and
minuscule budget to take their friend from Georgia to Los Angeles to get
his wheelchair customized on MTV's "Pimp My Ride." It's a comical and
poignant tale.

In the movie, playing at Laemmle Music Hall Theatre in Beverly Hills at 8
and 10 p.m. through Thursday as part of an Oscar bid, Darius rolls across
the screen like a sonic boom with a smile, shattering the stereotype of
disabled kids and embodying a genuine American idol with Duchenne muscular
dystrophy, a disease with a 100% mortality rate. To date the movie has won
20 "audience choice" awards at 25 film festivals.

The film is a classic hero's tale stuffed into an RV with a dozen guys and
their dirty socks. Granted, the Golden Fleece in this movie has been
updated and equipped with "spinners" on the wheels and PlayStation 2, but
Ulysses and Luke Skywalker have nothing on 15-year-old Darius Weems. Along
with his older brother, Mario, Darius was born with the most common and
severe form of muscular dystrophy. Duchenne is the No. 1 genetic killer of
children, with all eventually losing control of their muscles and most
dying in their late teens and early 20s. Indeed, Mario, who died at 19, is
eulogized best by the indomitable spirit of his younger brother in this
film.

"The strong one died," Darius recalls about Mario. "So I had to be the
strong one." Approximately 1 in 3,500 boys is born with the disease, with
two-thirds of the occurrences attributed to genetics, as was the Weems
brothers' affliction. One-third of the time, however, the disease strikes
randomly.

This is a film about the transforming power of teamwork and the inherent
joys and madness of reaching any seemingly impossible goal. Traversing
7,000 miles of highway from Athens, Ga., with a disturbing lack of handicap
access proves a large enough challenge to Darius and his crew. A cameo on
"Pimp My Ride," however, is completely do-able and way cool, according to
fans of MTV's mechanical-makeover hit. The show targets an audience between
the ages of 12 and 25, and "Darius Goes West" aims to entertain and inform
that same age range, according to Logan Smalley, 25, the film's director.
His reasons for cultivating these viewers, however, echo far beyond his
age.

It is a movie of pain, both physical and emotional, with a message of hope
and deep affection for the raw and sweet parts of human nature.
Documentaries have a bad habit of working too hard at jerking tears and
preaching for change. More often that not, this broad "nonfiction" genre
teeters on the edge of tedious.

Thanks to Smalley's editing and Darius' star quality, the documentary and
its back story through development and disease make "Darius Goes West" play
more like a hip indie film. Smalley, who also composed and plays the piano
soundtrack, and his gang bankrolled the $70,000 film by selling on-screen
credits for $10 each and having a hometown barbecue fundraiser.

The on-screen goal was to reach Los Angeles and convince "Pimp My Ride"
that Darius' wheelchair should be tricked out just like the cars on their
favorite show. The tension? The show won't consider entrants unless they
are from California. Hence, the road trip is conspired and completed with a
rented, wheelchair-accessible RV, with MTV cast in the role of the villain.

But the ultimate purpose for everyone involved in the project is to further
awareness and fund research to find a cure for DMD (Duchenne muscular
dystrophy). Even the audience contributes, because 100% of box-office
profit goes directly to the cause.

"We refer to this as the orphan's disease because it's less known than
cancer, ALS and leukemia," Smalley says. "But the cure is right round the
corner. It's close."

In the film, hard facts and predictable mortality statistics are woven in
by Dr. Benjamin Seckler, who specializes in treating children with
Duchenne, between Darius' adventures and scenes of Seckler's 5-year-old
son, Charley, as he sleds through the snow with early signs of the
debilitating disease hovering closer every day.

"The gene culprit of this disease has been discovered," says Seckler, with
steady resolve. Facing heartbreak on a daily basis, however, has softened
his dark gaze. "Human clinical trials are going on now to produce
dystrophin (the protein that connects muscle tissue), but what we need is
more funding. More research."

All donations and box-office profit after promotional costs from "Darius
Goes West" go to Charley's Fund (www.charleysfund.org), a nonprofit founded
by Seckler and his wife, Tracy, who also makes a heart-tugging appearance
in the film. Film clips of their young boy playing normally, but facing the
same short future as Darius, makes the Secklers' sense of urgency palpable.

As the doctor said in a recent interview, "We could be a day away from
finding a cure, but every day that passes is another day gone for our son."

Despite the certainty of bad news, "Darius Goes West" avoids falling into
"the pit of despair." The Secklers' dedication combined with the crew's
addiction to cheap jokes and Darius' gangsta-with-a-golden-heart-rapping on
the soundtrack prevent the movie from being the bearer of only bad news.

The idea for "Darius Goes West" originated with Smalley, who served as a
counselor at Project Reach, a public camp for disabled kids in his
hometown. He first met Darius' brother, Mario, at the camp.

"Before he died," Smalley explains in the film, "Mario asked me to take
care of Darius. I was too young [16] to know what I was committing to. But
Mario knew Darius [9] was old enough to understand.

"I was there the day Darius got his wheelchair," he remembers. "I could see
he felt nervous, so I said something about putting chains on the wheels
like they were rims. . . of course, he accepted the wheelchair long before
I got around to thinking about taking him to 'Pimp My Ride.' "

The film's quiet success, meanwhile, has made Darius a star in his hometown
and at film festivals. Delta Airlines has been providing the entire crew
free passage, including a trip to a festival in London. Last Friday,
opening night on the corner of Wilshire and Doheny, Felicity Huffman and
William H. Macy, who clown with Darius and crew in the movie, came to the
premiere and the full house erupted in applause when their scenes appeared.
The right people are beginning to talk. The buzz has begun.

Meanwhile, Smalley heads to Harvard in September to begin graduate studies
in, not filmmaking, but special education. Back home in Athens, Darius has
started his senior year of high school. He and his legally blind mother,
Jamie, live on welfare in the first projects built in the United States --
the same projects where he and Mario were raised. Before the making of
"Darius Goes West," the young rapper had never left Athens.

"It's the trip of lifetime," Darius says, looking out over the Grand Canyon
with tears in his eyes.

And how does the young hero of DMD feel about the possibility of going to
the Oscars? Smalley says, "Darius wants to be a rap star more than a movie
star. But if the film gets nominated, he'd really like to take his mom as
his date."

"Darius Goes West," 8 and 10 p.m. today and Thursday, Laemmle Music Hall
Theatre, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. More info:
http://www.dariusgoeswest.com