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Rory Culkin,
Rory Culkin,
Ryan Kelley,
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Jacob Aaron Estes,
Jacob Aaron Estes
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: Paramount
: Drama, Coming of Age , Quest, Revenge
: 89 min.
: English
: English
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Independent filmmaker Jacob Aaron Estes makes his feature debut with the coming-of-age drama Mean Creek. Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Josh Peck, Trevor Morgan, and Carly Schroeder are teenagers living in small-town Oregon. Some of the boys take a boat trip for a birthday celebration. When they get an idea to play a mean trick on the town bully, it suddenly goes too far. Soon they're forced to deal with the unexpected consequences of their actions. Mean Creek was workshopped at the Eugene O'Neill Center's National Playwrights Conference and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival as part of the American Spectrum program. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
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| I'm glad I'm a grown up
by Alicat
April 26, 2006 - 8:37 AM PDT
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2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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Mean Creek is what happens in the lives of kids when the parents arn't looking - or in this case, don't care to look. Watching this wonderfully made, beautifully acted film, I began to recall what it was like being in school, being young, and feeling as if you have no control in the events that happen to you or around you.
The film centers on a revenge trick gone fatefully wrong. What makes this film work though, is that by the end, you are not sure that the "BULLY" was any different than the other kids. Who is more a bully - the kid who acts out or the kid who RE-acts? There is more than one "BULLY" in this film. I remember the "ringleader" kid at my school, and I thought he was just as bad as the mean kid who stole my flubber ball everyday at recess. Is it oaky to defend yourself? I don't know. The film took me through a swarm of different questions and conflicting emotions. I also wondered where the parents were the whole time? They didn't surface until it was too late. Maybe that's how it is when you are young. You get TOO good at hiding your life from the adults.
I really liked this film, and it made me happy to be all grown up. |
| Life (and Death) Lessons
by talltale
January 31, 2005 - 6:27 AM PST
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6 out of 7 members found this review helpful
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What happens when school kids band together to teach a bully a lesson? Well, in MEAN CREEK, things get out of hand and then beyond help. If this movie has a touch of the after-school special, that touch is extraordinarily good. The writing, acting and direction are utterly believable, and you may find yourself wafting back and forth--just as the kids do--when trying to decide whether or not to teach this weird, out-of-control kid that lesson.
The kid himself, played wonderfully well by Josh Peck, will be seen by adults as troubled, probably chemically imbalanced, and unable to live/work/play by normal rules. That his peers see him as either sad and stupid or just plain mean seems quite appropriate--which is why teachers are needed to sort things out. They don't appear here, but from the current state of public education, they would most likely be indifferent or unable to help (one of the kids even points this out).
"Mean Creek" received an "R" rating from our nation's movie rating board, showing once again the stupidity of these "censors" (they manage to give much more violent and sexually leering films a PG-13), who kept the very people who most need to see this film out of the theatres. Smart parents will help their kids discover it on video. |
| BETTER THAN EXPECTED!!!
by EvilSpike
December 3, 2004 - 7:13 PM PST
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3 out of 6 members found this review helpful
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| Better than I expected. What could have been a stupid movie ended up being a gritty drama. All you have to do is wait around twenty minutes for it to start. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.70)
82 Votes
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| Cannes Film Festival & More - 2004 |
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| Official Selection, Certain Regards... and more. Here is a bit more information on the films screened at the Cannes. I have attempted to list all the films that were considered for an award as well as any special screenings. |
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