Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Manic is another great film, with a fantastic performance by Joseph Gordon Levitt. The film follows Lyle (Joseph Gordon Levitt) a young man, admitted to a youth psychiatric ward for anger issues, after nearly beating another kid to death.At first, seemingly apathetic (yeah, Joseph Gordon Levitt seems to play that character a lot) to all of the pain the teenagers around him have endured, Lyle eventually warms up to them, and learns to cope with his own issues, while helping them with theirs.The film is show in a documentary style, that really puts the viewer into the film. The atmosphere is great and there are a few moments in the film where the director puts the camera to such an effect where you fall into the mindset of the characters.Manic is one of the best films released in the past ten years, as far as I'm concerned, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Problem teens are everywhere and make everyone's life hell, we know this. I would love to send all of these miserable bastards away to some fortified compound where they can never return from.But you have to think about a few things. Why are problem teens the way they are? Most of the time it can be attributed to bad upbringing, which is really the fault of irresponsible or evil adults. So I guess that some people are just screwed from day one. Either way, they are the kinda folks I like to avoid. Is that the wrong attitude for me to have?The ubiquitous Joseph Gordon Levitt plays Lyle, a teenager who has been sent to a juvenile mental hospital because he cracked open the skull of a kid who taunted him. While I would usually say the kid deserved it, it becomes clear that Lyle has too much aggression crammed inside him and has no way of controlling it other than the occasional blind rage or makeshift mosh-pit.While in the hospital he makes pals (and some enemies) with a fragile Native American kid, a no-confidence girl and another boy with manic depression (oh, sorry...'Bi-polar disorder'). It's nothing particularly astonishing but it's the commitment to acting and making it all seem as real as possible that makes it so watchable. This is helped by director Jordan Melamed's documentary style and hard close-ups of actors without make up and with their honest faces and zits.There's more honesty and realism in the fighting too, which does occur at regular intervals and somehow seems more engaging than in action movies. I myself have pulverised people (who I hated and thought really deserved it) into the dirt only to feel huge guilt as they look up at me all bloodied and broken, their eyes watering. I assume so many of these angry teenagers put on this act of aggression and being hard to hide how sensitive they really are. It's not a big revelation I know, but it's very well done in the film.In the end it doesn't do much else than offer a balanced view of such kids. Not everyone has the power to turn their rage off, not all parents are going to be wonderful. But who says you are any better? Maybe we could all get along better if everyone admits that they could be a better person.

This movie is shot like a documentary, which adds to the raw edges of this film. If you are looking a feel good movie with all the answers, this film is not for you. If you are looking for a tiny glimpse of what it is like to have a mental illness and how difficult it is for professionals to help those, then sit back and watch. I was drawn into the characters, both the staff and the patience. The film ensured we never forgot that Psychologists and therapists are human as are the people with the illnesses. Although this film centered on teenagers with problems, the situations can apply to any age range. This is a must see film for any one interested in mental illness issues or those involved with dealing with mental illness. It is a shame this film did not get the positive press it deserves.

Manic went largely unnoticed after it's 2001 release and remains highly underrated. To say the least, Manic is a remarkable achievement in my opinion. It is the most realistic portrayal of a youth psych ward that I have yet seen on film. It focuses on a group of kids, roughly 12-17 years old, who are locked up in a hospital in order to receive "therapeutic healing." None of them are crazy per say, but they all seem to have serious emotional issues (but then again who doesn't?). This film is brutally honest, raw, and sometimes hard to watch. Having been in a similar type of institution myself when I was 17, I can speak highly for the credibility and accuracy of the content. I have not seen another movie tackle this subject in such an unflinching realistic manner. There's no fabricated drama here for the sake of the box office. The sometimes shaky, nontraditional camera work, and the lack of a musical soundtrack (with the exception of when the kids actually turn on the radio themselves), make this movie feel more like a documentary and less like a cinematic feature. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is phenomenal as Lyle Jensen, a ticked off confused kid who can't seem to contain his rage. Don Cheadle is equally effective as the head Counselor struggling to make a difference in the lives of these troubled teens. They couldn't have cast a better man for this role. He is more than convincing as the lead staff member who realizes that he's probably not getting through to these kids at all. I noticed some similarities to the movie "One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest," but Manic is far from a remake of that film. I doubt that Manic will become a classic like "Cuckoo's Nest," but it is certainly an underground hit in my book. My mother works at an alternative high school for kids with similar issues to those in Manic. I showed her Manic and could tell she had trouble watching it, identifying the characters with both me and her students. Manic is an important film but it's not for everyone. It's definitely on my top ten list. If you want to take a strange trip down a dark painful path, and see what it is to grow up feeling like a "messed up kid" like I did, then check out Manic for sure. Otherwise, steer clear, you may be disturbed. Then again, aren't we all.