MANIC A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2003 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): *
Moviegoers of the world unite! Stand up and tell those indie filmmakers who continue to abuse us with ShakiCam shots, blurring pans and out-of-focus films that we'll seek them out and throw up all over them. If we want to see something that looks like bad home movies, we'll visit the neighbors and save the fifty bucks that it costs for a night out at the movies.
Jordan Melamed's MANIC, which not surprisingly has been gathering dust on the shelf for a couple of years, has two big strikes against it. In addition to its aforementioned filming techniques, it has a story that plays like a community college's improvisational rendition of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST.
The setting is a juvenile mental institution in which Dr. David Monroe (Don Cheadle) guides a group of teens with anger issues. When the kids are not attacking each other physically in violent rages, they lash out verbally. The story's low point occurs when Lyle (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Chad (Michael Bacall), Michael (Elden Henson) and the rest of the gang bust up the place. When Dr. Monroe first observes it, he silently motions for the orderly to hold back on stopping the overgrown children from having their tantrums. One supposes that the good doctor wants the poor little things to get the rage out of their systems. Guess what? It doesn't work. They keep on destroying things and each other. The movie never works either, other than as a sedative for viewers who find themselves stuck in a dark room watching such drivel.
MANIC runs a long 1:40. It is rated R for "disturbing violent content, strong language and some drug use" and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, May 23, 2003. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters.
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