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The New Yorker : By Bruce Diones From: The New Yorker An outstanding performance by Josh Peck as a young schoolyard bully who's invited out to a party on a river, where a group of kids plan his comeuppance, anchors this suspenseful and elegiac film. The writer and director, Jacob Aaron Estes, gives his marvellous cast (which includes Rory Culkin and Scott Mechlowicz) the kind of youthful, textured dialogue that feels naturally captured. The ebb and flow of the scenes generates a nervous power and a haunting sense of the inevitable. From: The Onion Jacob Aaron Estes' extraordinary writing and directing debut Mean Creek at first appears to be a particularly skillful entry in the burgeoning subgenre of cautionary youth dramas-see last year's hysterical Thirteen for a dire example-dedicated to the proposition that the kids today most assuredly aren't alright. In the film's kinetic opening scenes, Sharon Meir's masterful cinematography lingers over budding adolescent bodies with a nervy energy that can't help but recall the sex-saturated oeuvre of Larry Clark. Thankfully, Estes eschews the photographer-turned-director's brittle misanthropy and penchant for sensationalism in favor of a more delicate take on the cruelty and heightened emotions of adolescence. Sure, the intricately observed inhabitants of Estes' teenage wasteland smoke pot, drink beer, and sometimes heap abuse on each other, but most are guided by a nagging sense of morality that never becomes moralistic. Mean Creek stars Rory Culkin as a sensitive kid whose brother and friends conjure up a cruel scheme to punish portly local bully Josh Peck: They plan to lure Peck out into the middle of the river, strip him, and force him to run home naked. But they begin to get cold feet when they realize that under Peck's obnoxious exterior lies an essentially decent human being, albeit one whose lack of social skills makes kindness and compassion difficult. Estes' keenly observed drama shows enormous perception about the Darwinian dynamics of early adolescence, the casual cruelty of emotional and social survival that enacts a horrific price on those at its bottom rung. Dyslexic, talkative, and permanently tethered to a video camera that documents his solitary life and vivid fantasy world, Peck, in a stunning performance, resonates as both monster and victim, predator and prey. Estes is generous enough to allow his beautifully wrought characters to see people for what they are: flawed and uncertain, unsteadily navigating through a complicated world filled with infinite shades of gray. By Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer It's remarkable, when you think about it, that young people manage to survive adolescence without permanent psychological damage. It's a time of so much confusion and frustration, of such unmediated unfairness and unfocused rage, that it's a tribute to the resilience of youth that most of us come through it more or less in one piece. Of course, you wouldn't know any of this from the flood of teenage films the movie business continually supplies; the bet Hollywood makes is that the reality is simply too painful for either kids or their elders to want to spend money to relive it in a theater. ÝSo young people get gross-out teen comedies and sanitized fantasies, and adults get exploitation films disguised as cautionary tales ý la "Thirteen." Which is why something like "Mean Creek" is such a surprise and a revelation. Written and directed by Jacob Aaron Estes in an assured feature debut and performed by an expert young cast, "Mean Creek" combines sensitivity and teenage themes in a way that is all but unheard of these days. The plot, with echoes of "Deliverance" and Tim Hunter's "River's Edge," has familiar elements, but the film's keen sense of interpersonal dynamics, its emphasis on non-exploitative honesty and its concern with larger issues set it on firm ground of its own. The smaller one in question is young Sam, looking about 12 and played by the slightly older Rory Culkin. The best known of the young actors in the "Mean Creek" cast, Culkin is also shaping up as the most gifted member of his family. He makes fine use, as he did in "You Can Count On Me," of the air of indefinable sadness that never seems to leave him. The bane of young Sam's life in his small Oregon town is George (Josh Peck), an overweight, older-than-his-classmates bully who opens the film beating Sam up, and not for the first time. This increasingly bugs Sam's older teenage brother, Rocky (Trevor Morgan), who finds his best friend, Marty (Scott Mechlowicz), equally irked. Marty proclaims, "I say we smoke that ham," and a plan for revenge on a river trip specially proposed for the purpose is hatched. Also on the boat are two other kids, each with a very particular personality. Clyde (Ryan Kelley) is the third wheel in the Rocky-Marty friendship, an insecure kid whose equilibrium is not helped by teasing about his home situation. And Millie (Carly Schroeder) is young Sam's level-headed classmate and soul mate, shown in a charming moment writing out a list of "Things to Say to Sam on Our Date." That ability to capture in an unforced way what's natural, to convey exactly how his characters would act, is one of writer-director Estes' strongest gifts. "Mean Creek" also understands how ever-changing, evanescent and even uncontrollable emotions are at that age, the way at a given moment taking action can seem wildly urgent, when in reality it's clearly not. Estes also has the knack of creating characters who gradually deepen in complexity. Marty, the staunch enemy of George's excesses, turns out to have a more intimate connection to emotional depredations. And big bad George is revealed to be a much more complicated individual than anyone on the boat is prepared for, hard to hate, harder to understand, hardest of all to stomach. The fact that "Mean Creek" can be so specific with its characters is a tribute not only to the writing and directing but also to the acting. Aside from Culkin, a familiar face, and Mechlowicz, a talented newcomer, the other four kids are played by young actors with considerable experience (most of it on television) if not marquee names. They must have jumped at the chance to do something with this kind of texture, and the results speak for themselves. Beautifully photographed by Sharone Meir almost entirely with natural light and a hand-held camera, "Mean Creek" benefits from a haunting sense of place, offering a picture of the river trip as an out-of-real-time experience. The film's score, by Tom Hajdu of tomandandy, adds to the mood, but "Mean Creek's" greatest asset is its sense of truth. It doesn't pander to or indulge its characters like the teen films we're used to. It looks at them straight ahead and with respect. It's something you wish Hollywood, and even parents, did more often. From: Screendaily.com One of the hidden treasures at the Sundance Film Festival this year, Mean Creek is a haunting teenage take on Deliverance in which a prank turns to tragedy. Sombre, gripping and often painfully true in its evocation of teenage concerns, it marks a stunning directorial debut from Jacob Estes, the kind of provocative young voice which Sundance is renowned for introducing to the world. What's so memorable about Mean Creek is that it doesn't represent its teenage protagonists with any condescension or cliche. Even though the film lasts only 87 minutes, each character in the ensemble is carefully written and sensitively acted; their angst is suggested with a respect and understanding that should thrust any and every adult who sees the film right back into the anguish of puberty. So while it's not Hollywood's view of teens a la She's All That or I Know What You Did Last Summer, neither is it voyeuristic like Larry Clark's kids, Bully or Ken Park. And if box office potential is limited by that unexploitative disposition, it is enhanced by the profound psychological drama and visceral intensity at the film's heart. With the support of critics and a potent trailer, audiences should be enticed to go down the river with these vulnerable kids. The story, set in a small Oregon town, hinges on a big fat bully called George (Peck) who towers over his classmates and spends his time roaming around the schoolgrounds with his expensive camcorder. When the shy and hapless Sam (Culkin) meddles with the camera, George savagely beats him up. Sam tells his protective older brother Rocky (Morgan) who hatches a plot to take revenge on George by inviting him on a birthday river-trip for Sam during which they will strip him of his clothes and make him walk home naked. George accepts. Joining them on the trip are Sam's best friend Millie (Schroeder) and Rocky's buddies Clyde (Kelley), a sensitive boy whose parents are two gay men, and Marty (Mechlowicz), the good-looking leader of the gang who comes from a troubled home, is himself bullied by his brother and is close to being a bully himself. Problems begin however when George turns out to be friendly, lonely and anxious for friendship. Sam gets second thoughts about the prank, but when the journey downriver begins, there is no escape. A game of truth and dare leads to a ferociously ugly war of words and a fatal accident. Estes portrays the malicious cruelty of the kids with excruciating honesty while also pointing to the influences of their flawed upbringings in their actions and words. Only towards the end of the film do we actually see any adults, appearing too late to have provided help to their offspring in the brutal and deadly serious world of kids. Beautifully shot on hot and humid summer days on rivers in Oregon and Washington, Mean Creek also showcases some noteworthy new acting talent, especially Mechlowicz who smoulders and struts like a teenage Tom Cruise. tomandandy (The Rules Of Attraction, Natural Born Killers) provide a suitably melancholy music score. From: TheMovieBoy.com Superlatively written and directed by Jacob Aaron Estes, "Mean Creek" puts a grim twist on the coming-of-age genre and musters up one of the most harrowing and accurate cinematic experiences so far this year. Emotionally piercing and pretty close to faultless, the film takes an unblinking look at the human condition—its simultaneous diversity and parallelism—of six friends faced with an unexpected downward spiral of tragic events. There are no easy answers offered, no directorial pretensions, no false melodramatic crises, and no neatly-packaged ending. Without even a speck of obvious sentimentality or forced humor to relieve its unmitigated candidness, "Mean Creek" is a frightening journey into the heart of human darkness and morality. When mild-mannered 12-year-old Sam (Rory Culkin) is undeservedly beat up by taunting, overweight classmate George (Josh Peck), a plan evolves between four friends in their rural Oregon town to embarrass this unlikely bully and teach him a lesson. Along with Sam's teenage brother, Rocky (Trevor Morgan), and Rocky's two friends, leader Marty (Scott Mechlowicz) and straight-arrow Clyde (Ryan Kelley), their plot concerns inviting George out on a Saturday boating trip for Sam's supposed birthday and then abruptly stealing all of his clothes and deserting him while nude in the middle of nowhere. George, who has no friends of note, is happy to accept the invitation, while Sam's innocent crush, Millie (Carly Schroeder), also tags along. Once getting the time to be around him, the group is surprised to find that George isn't the monster he at first seemed to be and they agree to do away with their scheme to play a nasty prank on him. What they don't expect is for a game of "Truth or Dare" to unearth a sea of anger, heated resentment, and teenage immaturity, ultimately leading to a moment of tragic misjudgment they will live to regret. Viewers familiar with Larry Clark's equally brilliant 2001 docudrama, "Bully," will find "Mean Creek" to hold a number of, albeit superficial, similarities. Both pictures concern a group of teenagers out to seek revenge on a bully, and both depict the hopeless aftermath of said revenge as they get further and further in over their heads. Whereas the plan all along in "Bully" was to kill their malevolent antagonizer, however, the teenage characters portrayed in "Mean Creek" are decidedly more morally sound. Their brand of revenge, while unkind, is nothing but a harmless ploy to get even, and each of them have a firm grasp on right from wrong. Furthermore, the subject of retribution, George, is not an inherently bad kid so much as he is lonely, his occasional obnoxious behavior a desperate attempt to fit in with his peers. Sam, Rocky, Clyde, and Millie recognize this fact and, as their day together moves forward, come to sort of sympathize with George and get second thoughts about their prank. Marty sees it too, but has worked himself up so much in anticipation that he doesn't want to admit George isn't so bad. Without giving away exactly what happens next, a series of adolescent pissing matches are the fundamental source of an eruption of emotions that lead to an accident gone terribly awry. "Mean Creek" invites comparison with another current film, "Garden State," in that both writer-directors—Jacob Aaron Estes and Zach Braff—have pulled off a feature debut that is superior to nearly every other 2004 release, thus far, many of them coming from such deeply respected filmmaking veterans as Quentin Tarantino ("Kill Bill: Vol. 2") and Steven Spielberg ("The Terminal"). There is an energy, a sharp honesty, a spontaneity, and an overall passion Estes and Braff have brought to their respective movies, unblemished by studio greed and cynicism, that has made them transcendent overachievers in the best possible way. "Mean Creek" is visually bold without being showy, going for muddy greens and browns to not only bring to life the backwater setting, but also to symbolize the murky terrain of these teenage characters' unsure, rebellious adolescence. More important, Jacob Aaron Estes' bold, richly developed account of teenage experimentation and interaction hits the mark at every turn. These characters are never stereotypes and each one feels like someone you might have known growing up, holding traits that not always are the ones expected and with morals that bely the usual cliched representation of kids from lower-middle and middle-class upbringings. Meanwhile, the various touchy relationships that make up this group of six are intricate and exquisitely realized, each one different from the next but always completely plausible to the way real teenagers treat each other. The dialogue they use is fascinating and truthful, sprinkled with casual slang, small-talk, and minimalist pop-cultural references that avoid overly intellectual and too-cute wordiness. And when they are suddenly faced with the unthinkable, feelings of despair, shame, and panic take over. The decisions they make to deal with their predicament are sometimes clumsy, and sometimes misguided, but these are mostly good kids stuck in a horrible situation, and never act any other way than how someone their age might. Further helping to bring these characters to invigorating, emotionally deft life are some haunting music cues from composer Tomandandy (2002's "The Rules of Attraction") and tonally perfect song choices from the likes of John Gold, Ethan Gold, Eels, Wilco, and Orleans. The six lead performances, bar none, are exceptional, working as a tight-knit unit to become one of the more amazing young ensembles gathered for any movie in the last few years. The conflict they face is completely told from their points-of-views and with no needless cutaways to, say, the parents at home looking worried. In fact, the parental figures are vague peripheries, not showing up until the final act and then only briefly or not at all. This is a wise choice that steers the picture away from the docudrama format and to something more stark, true, and focused. So impeccable is this cast and so heartbreaking are they as they experience something that changes their entire outlook of their lives, that it is difficult to zero in on any one of them without mentioning them all. Rory Culkin (2002's "Signs") and Trevor Morgan (2001's "The Glass House"), as brothers Sam and Rocky, feel like close actual siblings, with Rocky fiercely protective of his younger brother even as Sam's trust in Rocky, who turns out not to hold all the right answers, is eventually put to the test. Scott Mechlowicz (2004's "Eurotrip") is scarily arresting as the forceful leader of the group, Marty, who suffers from a less-than-savory home life and takes out his frustrations on others. As easy-target Clyde, who must put up with the hurtful ridicule of his peers concerning his two gay fathers, Ryan Kelley (2002's "Stolen Summer") is an auspicious find whose quiet powerlessness to being made fun of is the key to Clyde's poignancy. Josh Peck (2001's "Max Keeble's Big Move") plays against type to vivid, three-dimensional effect as the so-called "bully," George, who masks his dissolution and low self-esteem with a tempered defensiveness that always goes overboard into cruelty. And Carly Schroeder, whose biggest claim to fame has been a recurring role on TV's "Lizzie McGuire" and 2003's "The Lizzie McGuire Movie," is simply astonishing as the sole girl of the bunch, Millie. At first seen as an innocent, naive 12-year-old, one who makes a list of things to talk about with Sam as their "date" together draws near, the ways in which Millie is forced to grow up and deal with issues no one her age should have to in the span of a single, life-altering day is devastating. As "Mean Creek" winds down and the chips are stacked against the characters, writer-director Jacob Aaron Estes avoids the easy route viewers of the Lifetime Network might be suspecting and goes for a denouement that is insightful, genuine, and free of hackneyed, predictable developments. The story Estes tells remains open-ended, which is how it should be for frightened characters (and hypnotized audiences) who already know what is going to happen next even if they don't exactly know. The study of a tragedy both avoidable and accidental, and the ways in which six teens and pre-teens struggle to deal with the inescapable, dire hand they have been dealt, "Mean Creek" is an uncompromising major motion picture achievement that excels its low-budget, independently-made origins. Spellbinding, unsettling, rattlingly provocative, and tautly paced with no indication of amateurish artiness ever peaking through, "Mean Creek" plays like this decade's welcome answer to 1986's "Stand by Me," sure to endure as a watermark of the coming-of-age genre for years to come. From: Backstage.com The Sundance Film Festival has always been an exciting arena in which to discover new talent. This year was especially promising in terms of actors about whom filmgoers will hopefully hear more in the near future. These include Vera Farmiga, who walked away with this year's Jury Prize for Acting for her harrowing performance as a drug addict in Down to the Bone; the Salt Lake City based actor Jon Heder, star of the comedic film Napoleon Dynamite, which delighted audiences and was picked up by Fox Searchlight; and Shane Carruth, who came out of nowhere to win the Jury Prize for Best Drama for Primer, which he starred in, wrote, directed, and produced. I was particularly impressed by the acting in two films, Maria Full of Grace and Mean Creek, which have been picked up for distribution by Fine Line Features and Paramount Classics, respectively. Morgan Gets 'Mean' "I get that a lot," says Morgan. "Not so much the way I act, but more that I look like Sean Penn. I'm not sure what it is, but people keep telling me that, which is great." Morgan is indeed not new to acting. He's been at it since age 5, when a commercial casting director discovered him at a mall in his native Chicago. "At the time there was a lot of commercial work that you could be doing as a kid in Chicago," says the now 17-year-old actor, who eventually moved with his family to California, where he continued to get work. His many film roles include appearances in The Sixth Sense, The Glass House, Jurassic Park III, and The Patriot, in which his work as Mel Gibson's son garnered him a Hollywood Reporter Young Star Award nomination. He is most often recognized for his portrayal of the young cancer victim Scott Anspaugh in the 1998?99 season of ER, for which he shared a Screen Actors Guild Ensemble Cast Award and another Young Artist Award nomination for both his work in ER and the Disney Channel film Genius. Mean Creek's writer/director Jacob Aaron Estes tells BSW that
he was not very aware of Morgan before casting the young actor.
He credits the film's casting director, Matt Lessall, with steering
his attention to Morgan. "Honestly, I wasn't very familiar
with anyone's work [except that of] Rory Culkin, whom I had seen
in things, and I knew his history," says Estes. "Matt
brought Trevor to my attention, and he mentioned a few of the movies
that Trevor had been in, including [screenwriter] Mike Rich's The
Rookie, and I very distinctly recall his performance in that [as
a young Dennis Quaid]. The good news is that I didn't recognize
him or know him, because he just slips into his characters and
does it. He's not flashy, and that's the best quality."
...A river trip becomes an allegory of life, coming-of-age and death in writer-director Jacob Estes' "Mean Creek." Estes' debut feature's strength lies in its crackling intensity, ultra-sharp character insights and an affinity for teenage protagonists who look and sound like real teens. An object of buyer interest at Sundance, pic could do strong niche biz with potential mainstream crossover. In a random act of schoolyard bullying, shy, diminutive Sam (Rory Culkin) is pummeled by frequent nemesis George (Josh Peck). Concerned older brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan) concocts a plan: He and Sam will invite George on a boating trip, ostensibly to celebrate Sam's birthday. Only, the trip's real purpose will be to strand George mid-river, strip him nude and force him to run all the way home. Accompanying them will be Rock's friends Clyde (Ryan Kelly), another
victim of George's who has been relentlessly teased for having
two gay fathers, and the preening, posturing Marty (Scott Mechlowicz),
who uses machismo to compensate for his unresolved feelings over
his father's recent suicide. One girl is invited along: Millie
(Carly Schroeder), on whom Sam has an obvious, though undisclosed
crush. Pic's early moments are steeped in nostalgia: walks home from school with older brothers; warm, seemingly endless spring afternoons; and other rights of adolescent passage. Estes conjures a specific kind of iconic-suburban childhood, steeped in the vestiges of Norman Rockwell and Mark Twain, and ripe for rupturing. Yet, it rings true, partly because Estes never overstates his case, and partly because he seems to speak from a place of deeply felt experience. What's so strong about Estes' work is how he manages to surprise, rarely making people or situations out to be as black or white as he so easily might have. Nor does Estes seem compelled to dress the film up with needless surprises or twists. The helmer channels his energies equally into the visual aspects
of pic and into working with his cast of mostly newcomers, who
respond with a raft of impressive turns. Of particular note is
Peck, whose George is borne from a keen sense of the way loneliness
and humiliation can breed meanness and contempt. As Marty, Mechlowicz
employs a smoldering intensity and devil-may-care smirk that strongly
recall the young Burt Reynolds, while showing that those are merely
devices used to cloak his character's own deep-seated insecurity.
From: Film Threat
Review One of the best things you can say about a first time director
is that his first time feature plays like an effort from a well-established
filmmaker. With Jacob Estes the good thing is that it is not the
only thing you can say about "Mean Creek". It might
be odd to also rave about the casting, but in this case Estes and
his team did an admirable job in bringing together a team of youthful
actors who carry the weight of a fairly weighty movie.
From: San Jose Mercury News Four youths in Oregon decide to teach a school bully a lesson. But as the plan unfolds, their consciences -- and the intended victim's seesaw personality -- cause a change of heart. Is it too late? Beautifully directed by Jacob Estes, with uniformly fine performances by a young ensemble led by Rory Culkin and Ryan Kelley, this teen drama brings to mind "River's Edge" and "Stand by Me."
From: Rocky Mountain News No one can see everything that an 11-day film festival such as
Sundance offers. But one gets a sense of which movies are likely
to command attention. Here then, some of the movies you'll be hearing
more about:
From: Ft. Worth Star Telegram "My other festival favorite is Mean Creek -- which, like Open Water, was inexplicably denied a slot in the dramatic competitions and shunted to the "American Spectrum" program. It follows a group of teen-agers who, in a misguided attempt at a practical joke, wind up killing the school bully. First-time director Jacob Aaron Estes has drawn on influences like River's Edge and Hitchcock's Lifeboat, but he's crafted something all his own -- an unnerving, complex and, finally, heartbreaking portrait of decent kids who find themselves in deep over their heads." |
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