Too much of everything

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Boring

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

"Mean Creek" is at times so riveting, tense and portentous that you forget you're watching a movie; it feels like you're watching the filming of real events as they're unfolding before your eyes. This is all the more impressive considering that this was the feature-length directing and writing debut of Jacob Aaron Estes, and that he is working almost exclusively with child and teen actors: they are all terrific, but Josh Peck is the revelation. If you only know him from Nickelodeon's "Drake and Josh", boy you're in for a surprise! The locations are magnificent, and may inspire you to take a creek trip some weekend. My only reservation has to do with the abrupt ending; I would have liked to see the story continue. *** out of 4.

The problem I had with Mean Creek is that I never really found its premise to be believable; the fact we're told George is a 'bully' merely because he punched Sam a couple of times in the face. Do the writers even know what a bully is? A bully will usually target someone who's smaller and weaker than them and will usually do this for no other reason than to make themselves feel better about themselves. George warned Sam not to touch his camera and when Sam ignored him, George gave him a good hiding. Whilst I'm not condoning what George did, I hardly think his actions qualify him as a 'bully'.After the altercation with Sam, George is then invited on a boat trip with Sam and his friends... Anyone in their right mind would refuse to go anywhere with a group of people who are friends with the person that you've just beaten up. I just found the entire premise ridiculous and unconvincing. I mean you have to ask yourself if it's really believable that a group of friends would go to that much trouble over 'one' altercation... sure you may go to these sort of lengths if George had been bullying Sam for months, but again I struggled to find a lot of this believable.We're then treated to a tedious and long game of 'Truth Or Dare' which I felt was clumsily written into the story and just dragged on and on.I also found the film to be quite boring as well and this is probably due to a large number of characters being rather shallow and lacking in depth (although Estes does flesh George out quite well). The performances were pretty weak across the board (with the exceptions of Mechlowicz and Peck who both managed to be far better than the material). At times the camera work was also nauseating and gave the film a very amateurish feel to it.The final 20-25 minutes consist of the gang moralising over whether they have 'done' the right thing or whether they should 'do' the right thing. Whilst the narrative swings in this direction towards the end it never really offers much commentary and the messy and unresolved ending made me wonder what the point was in building the film up in this manner only to then offer no closure on the matter. George's monologue at the end made very little sense and created a disappointing finale to a disappointing film. It's a shame really as I could see a lot of potential here.

I was actually expecting much based on the simple but interesting premise and the intriguing poster which for once caught my attention. However, this is not particularly impressive. The acting is passable but none of the actors show much range of abilities. Except for the bully, all the characters are pretty one dimensional. This is a character driven movie lacking in good dialogue and characterization.*SPOILERS* After the bully dies, the movie includes barely any discussion on what they should do and all the characters react the way you would expect them to. The characters show barely any emotion at all. There are so many opportunities for powerful performances and memorable dialogue here. But instead they decide without any real discussion to bury the body (which is the stupidest decision ever) and then later the discussion about coming clean is not even included in the film.The first part of the movie about bullying and adolescence was pretty good. The second part of the movie, after the bully dies, is completely uninteresting because nothing happens. Everybody agrees with Clyde that they should hide the body and then later everybody but Clyde decides to tell the police. No ideological conflict, no exploration of the mind of the characters.

"His daddy splattered his brains - All over the wall!!" Despite the lack of a meaningful message, or well wrapped conclusion, this is one of the most stomach-dropping, well written screenplays on the planet. Where is this quiet, lonely, creepy town? Who lives there? Who's childhood is this? No other movie has accomplished this feeling inside of me. I have got this feeling from books that have an eerie small town where only sad things happen. This movie is truly a piece of great literature. This writing is superb. The acting is realistic. The set-up, the music, the scenes, the creepy, dark, quiet town, and troubled kids, are sure to leave you with chills in your spine. The story here is only something that would happen in a long lost book from the 90's that has no message but pure feeling. How does this movie make you feel? Prepare to feel ICKY. But don't die before you watch it, it will be one of a kind for eternity.