Common Sense Media Review
By Jennifer Green
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Child actor's life story involved betrayal and violence.
Parents Need to Know
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Gary
What's the Story?
GARY is the tale of child actor Gary Coleman, whose successful career gave way to an adult life marked by controversy, violence, and disappointment. The documentary interviews his parents and ex-wife, a former girlfriend, best friends, manager, and others to reconstruct both the actor's early life and unexpected success as a child actor on the TV show Diff'rent Strokes as well as the controversies, court cases, suicidal thoughts, stunted career, and untimely death of his adulthood.
Is It Any Good?
Despite some distracting elements in the filming and editing of this documentary, Gary Coleman's life story makes for a fascinating albeit heartbreaking story deserving of attention. Coleman was a person with an enormous innate talent who had a groundbreaking career as a child. This film can remind viewers of that, amidst the sordid headlines and cast of questionable characters it presents.
The biggest problem for viewers of Gary is that very few of the interviewees come across as trustworthy. This underscores the sense of betrayal the actor by all accounts felt over the course of his life, but it also complicates the reliability of the narrative. Re-creations of scenes and artifacts, and suspenseful music (including the sounds of a heartbeat during discussion of his death) in the background don't help with authenticity. It's also a dubious technique to edit in clips of sources looking shifty between questions when someone else accuses them of something.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the life story of Gary Coleman, as presented in Gary. Were there aspects of his story you felt might have been missing in this documentary?
A childhood friend of Gary's suggests that "celebrity is a burden" and Coleman's life story is a "cautionary tale." What does he mean by these statements? What evidence in the documentary supports these ideas?
Why do you think this documentary was made now?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : August 30, 2024
- Cast : Gary Coleman , Todd Bridges , Shannon Price
- Director : Robin Dashwood
- Inclusion Information : Black Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Peacock
- Genre : Documentary
- Topics : Friendship , History
- Run time : 91 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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