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Directed by: Jacob Aaron Estes Starring: Rory Culkin, Josh Peck, Scott Mechlowicz, Carly Schroeder Mean Creek is the sort of movie I'd want portraying my age group. Teens are generally too stupid to care that poo poo like Varsity Blues and Larry Clark movies bears as much resemblance to how we might actually feel and react as a meal at Taco Bell represents a pledge to rectal health. It's limited release, but teens wouldn't see it anyway because there aren't any tits, rapper cameos or guys getting their penis caught in office supplies. It's miles beyond the realm of their willing comprehension and that's a loving shame, because it's the first movie I've seen since Dazed & Confused to so accurately capture the zeitgeist of youth. Mama Culkin loved proxy-fame so much that she had her husband pump another child actor into her--Rory Culkin, the lead, who resists puberty as well as his brothers did. George, a fat, overbearing school bully (Josh Peck), is the bane of his existence, and his older brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan) hatches a plot to get revenge. Sam (Culkin) however, is prone to non-aggression, and the only way his brother can convince him to go along with the plot is to promise embarrassment without pain. Rocky, Sam, Sam's threshhold girlfriend Millie (Carly Schroeder), and Clyde (Ryan Kelley) and Marty (Scott Mechlowicz)--two of Rocky's friends--invite George out to the creek to celebrate Sam's fake birthday with some water-basted ham. The revenge plan self-destructs when Millie learns of it, and convinces Sam to call it off. And besides, as they get to know him, everybody starts taking a bit of a liking to the fat fucker. After school special, right? Wrong. The movie portrays the bully as misunderstood, lonely, marginalized--and an unlikable rear end in a top hat all the same. He's not victimized in the least, and I loved it. Out on the river, he gets a few laughs from the group by freestyle rapping for his video camera. But like a child, he keeps going long after the joke got lame for them and for us--and like he doesn't need or want our approval, he doesn't flinch. Just when you want to let him off the hook, he does something that makes you want to clock him like zooming in on Millie's crotch or calling everybody within vocal range a human being. George is vile and unnerving, a creep and a pathetic wannabe, and yet smart, cunning, impressionable. No poo poo, he's probably the best, most nuanced character I've seen all year. All the characters are great. I want to buy writer\director Jacob Aaron Estes a beer for his incredible, truthful portrayal of real teens--teens who aren't just sex fiends and who don't always have clever poo poo to say all the time or know how to feel. Mechlowicz can finally be forgiven for the pain that was Eurotrip after this--Marty is the requisite broken-home kid whose perception is shaped by the violence and indifference from his home life. In the undertow of events, he becomes what he hates most and he can't stand it. The other noteworthy performance was from Schroeder. In an industry where women are increasingly bottlenecking into generic, expository roles as eye candy or mouthy shrews, it gave me chills to see a real girl dealing with real emotions, showing shyness, aggression, a will of her own. Who'd have thunk a Lizzie McGuire actress might actually amount to something other than jerkoff material for basement-dwelling neckbeards? I can't praise this movie enough. It starts off a little like your average indy coming-of-age movie, but holy poo poo, watch for the whirlpool. Mean Creek is drama of truth so compelling it will make your balls contract. RATING: 5 PROS: Great acting, direction and writing, tense and atmospheric CONS: Starts a little slow ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377091/
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Oct 27, 2004 07:54
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I've had the pleasure to enjoy quite a few amazing directional debuts in the past few years. This is one of the very best, and one of the best movies of 2004 I've seen. I watched it not too long ago and I was surprised I hadn't heard of it before. Unlike Macaulay, Kieran Culkin can actually act, which I've known for a long time. This, however, was the first time I saw Rory in a significant role, and I wasn't disappointed. The fat kid character was brilliant. I hated him, and I felt bad about it. The cinematography and the soundtrack is why I ultimately give this movie the full score. RATING: 5.5 PROS: The acting. The cinematography. The realism. The soundtrack. The characters. CONS:
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Jan 10, 2006 03:52
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