Darius Goes West: The Roll of His Life on AllMovie

The heart-rending documentary Darius Goes West: The Roll of His Life opens with the assertion that 15-year-old Darius Weems, a wheelchair-bound, African American young man stricken with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, has never left Georgian soil. To rectify this (and give Darius an experience he will never forget), 11 of his counselor friends from a grassroots organization called Project Reach pile into a handicap-accessible RV with Darius and hit the road, embarking on a cross-country trip from Athens, Georgia to Southern California, where they hope to convince the MTV network's Pimp My Ride series to customize Darius's wheelchair. The journey (which includes stops at such locales as The Grand Canyon; Windsor Springs, Colorado; and Las Vegas) draws the men closer together and gives them a renewed appreciation for life. Along the way, they encounter unexpected help and friendship from such celebrities as William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman and Michael Jackson, and raise much-needed public awareness of muscular dystrophy. Logan Smalley directs.