Heritage Films has this month announced the release of the award winning family film Different Drummers, available to rent, buy online and VOD platforms from 14 January 2015.
Based on true events, this film, rated PG, centres on childhood friendship, loyalty and triumph over mortality.
Described as “poignant, warm, sad, touching and totally delightful” by Derek Kavanagh (Producer of Dances with Wolves), Different Drummers has won numerous awards, including an Award of Merit at The International Accolade Competition 2013, Best Family Feature at WorldFest Houston (2013) and Best Screenplay at both the WorldFest Houston and San Fernando Valley International Film Festivals (2007).
Set in the 1960s, Different Drummers is the true story of a touching friendship and spiritual journey between fourth-graders David Dahlke, a wheelchair-bound student suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (Ethan Reed Mckay) and Lyle Hatcher (award-winning actor Brayden Tucker), a child suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder with uncontrollable energy levels.
When David’s accurate prediction that their teacher will die comes true, Lyle devises a plan to find out if God really exists, by attempting to get David to run again.
Inspired by his TV idol, Jack Lalanne, and his message of “working a miracle through intestinal fortitude and willpower,” Lyle convinces David that he can teach him to run, viewing this as a way to test the existence of God. By way of exchange, Lyle extracts a promise from David to help Lyle create the World’s Craziest-Coolest Bug Collection Ever, for the science fair.
After a grueling day collecting bugs in the woods (involving bullies with BB guns), it becomes clear to Lyle that David is getting weaker and his running plan is not working, yet he remains determined to get David out of his wheelchair. A series of mishaps leads Lyle to a revised plan. He will walk across the gym on his hands on Parent Night as a way to raise money to help find a cure for muscular dystrophy. When Lyle begins to twist the rules in a desperate attempt to give his friend some of his own excess energy, he comes face to face with life’s most transcendent and painful truths. Lyle and David barge ahead with big plans for Parent Night – Operation Handstand and the World’s Craziest-Coolest Bug Collection.
When Lyle begins to twist the rules in a desperate attempt to give his friend some of his own excess energy Miss O’Donnell decides to “slow him down a bit” by giving him an experimental drug that has been recently introduced in the schools to “mainstream problem children.” Operation Handstand and the bug collecting grind to a halt.
David, lost without the help and energy of his friend, sets out to free Lyle from the drug, even going head-to-head with Miss O’Donnell. Eventually David succeeds and the boys jump back into bug-collecting and Operation
Lyle comes to the realisation that David is getting weaker when they collect bugs in the woods for the World’s Craziest Coolest Bug Collection for the school science fair.
He revises his plans and decides to raise money for muscular dystrophy at the Parent Evening by walking on his hands. Lyle’s questions about God’s existence are ultimately answered, in a way he never could have imagined. – Courtesy Heritage Films