Off the Rails
"Off-beat and enjoyable"
- Hollywood Reporter "Heart-rendering" - The Huffington Post |
"A sharply funny human interest story that will be hard to forget"
- Toronto Film Scene |
Director: Adam Irving
Runtime: 89 mins DVDCat#: PRDVD3435 UPC: 602573165881 Pre-book: 5/30/17 Street: 6/27/17 SRP: $24.95 GENRES: Documentary, Crime, Government, Psychology
SYNOPSIS: The remarkable true story of Darius McCollum, a man with Aspergers syndrome whose overwhelming love of transit has landed him in jail 32 times for impersonating New York City bus drivers and subway conductors and driving their routes. As a boy in Queens, Darius found sanctuary from school bullies in the subway. There, he befriended transit workers who taught him to drive trains. By age 8, he memorized the entire subway system. At 15, he drove a packed train six stops by himself, making all the stops and announcements. Over the next three decades, Darius commandeered hundreds of trains and buses, staying en route and on schedule, without ever getting paid. He attended transit worker union meetings, lobbying for better pay and working conditions for a union he didn't belong to. Although Darius has never damaged any property or hurt anyone in his decades of service, he has spent 23 years in maximum security prison. Darius's recidivism embodies the criminal justice system's failure to channel the passions of a harmless, mentally challenged man into a productive career and purposeful life. |