IN THE DARK/Jonathan Richards
MEAN CREEK
Written and Directed by Jacob Aaron Estes
Rated R, 89 minutes
BULLY PULPIT
It is not long into this taut, riveting first
feature by Jacob Aaron Estes before you feel the dread
seeping into your muscles and bones. That sense of
foreboding is a testament to the effectiveness with
which he and his cadre of young actors have brought
their characters to life. You know they're just
characters in a movie, and a fictional movie at that,
but there is a bond of realness extended through the
screen that grapples you to the misadventure on which
they have embarked.
Sam (Rory Culkin) is a target for the school
bully, an overweight boy named George (Josh Peck) with
a hair-trigger temper. It's the kind of problem that
sets a kid to fantasizing about a solution. `If you
could just snap your fingers and make him disappear,'
his friend Millie (Carly Schroeder) asks, `would you?'
Sam isn't sure, but his older brother Rocky (Trevor
Morgan) doesn't believe in letting this sort of crime
go unpunished.
Rocky and his friend Marty (Scott Mechlowicz)
cook up a recipe for revenge. They will lure George
out with an invitation to Sam's birthday party, take
him down to the creek, get him out in a boat, propose
a game of Truth or Dare and make him jump in the water
naked, then abscond with his clothes and leave him to
make his way home.
But you just know, know, know things are going to
go wrong. Bad wrong.
George takes the bait, and joins the expedition.
He even brings a birthday present it looks like he's
bought and wrapped himself – they've told him not to
tell even his parents where he's going, because it's a
small party and they don't want other kids feeling
left out.
George, surprise of surprises, turns out to be
almost a likeable guy. He's excited and grateful to
be included. He brings along his ever-present digital
video camera, and records the trip down to the creek.
He makes jokes and thoughtless remarks – even on his
best behavior, George is a bit of a creep -- but he
really means no harm.
The others warm up to him a bit. By the time
they head out on the water, the revenge plan has lost
some of its luster. Most of them are tempted to call
it off. But things go wrong.
There's nothing particularly groundbreaking about
a story of teenage revenge with unhappy consequences.
This story carries a little of the flavor of River's
Edge and a little of Stand By Me (both 1986), and a
bit more of Bully (2001). But it really owes no more
to its predecessors than a schoolyard bully of this
generation owes to the kids who have held that job in
years past. There's a natural succession in these
things.
George is a lonely kid whose only real friend
seems to be his video camera. We catch a glimpse of
his mother, but there seems to be no father on the
scene. At home, he records himself and his
surroundings, providing live narration for this `look
into my mind.' Marty, the cool bad boy, has a
king-sized chip on his shoulder, lodged there by a
father who blew his own head off and an older brother
who knocks him around. Clyde (Ryan Kelly), Scotty's
other pal, has a two-dad parental situation and a
gentle disposition that makes him the target of fag
jokes. There's not much evidence of adult involvement
in these kids' lives.
Estes directs with a simple, straightforward
style that takes charge of the story with stunning
effectiveness. He seasons the narrative with dashes
of casual cruelty, goodness and loyalty, menace and
humor. He shows the hurt that lies behind the
swagger. He knows when to shut up and let the
audience do the work. He builds it all with the
ominous inevitability of classic tragedy. And
cinematographer Sharon Meir films it with a limpid
clarity that drives the story home.
If there were a false note among the actors it
might all fall apart like a house of greasy cards, and
there are times you almost wish it would. But these
kids are good. Rory Culkin (Signs), the youngest of
the seven Culkin siblings, captures the watchful
diffidence of a younger brother and strengthens it
with an emerging sense of self. Mechlowicz has a
rebel coolness and the looks of a lanky Brad Pitt.
He's a cauldron of pain and toughened defenses, and
it's only a matter of time till he boils over.
Schroeder (The Lizzie McGuire Movie) gives us
sweetness and innate decency with a layer of mature
determination, and there is a moment with a Swiss Army
knife that will make you wince. And the central focus
is Peck, the tubby tormentor with the desperate need
to belong. He fills the role with a nervous energy
that covers a range of light to dark, and always
leaves you uneasy about what's going to come out next.
It's a hard movie to recommend, in the sense that
you probably won't enjoy yourself. But you'll come
out knowing you've been somewhere, and with the sense
that you've witnessed the start of a career or two.
========== X-RAMR-ID: 38705 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1323654 X-RT-TitleID: 1135672 X-RT-SourceID: 896 X-RT-AuthorID: 2779
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews