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Deliverancegoes to high school in this grim, stripped-down fable of a prank gone bad. Friends decide to teach a lesson to a teenage bully by inviting him on a canoeing trip where they will humiliate him once and for all. The prank turns seriously sour, and the kids must deal with the consequences. Writer-director Jacob Aaron Estes takes a somber look at these lives, although his low-key approach makes the central tragedy seem melodramatic when it happens. The film isn't quite new enough to be truly revelatory, but Estes neatly avoids aRiver's Edgerehash by allowing his characters more than dead-eyed anomie. The actors hit their notes with precision, especially Rory Culkin (another of the Culkin family, with Macaulay and Kieran), Ryan Kelley, and Scott Mechlowicz. This is the kind of movie that may be slightly familiar to older audiences, but could easily be a home-video cult item with younger viewers.--Robert Horton
Did he deserve what he got? I had a couple of misgivings about watching a film about bullying to begin with, having been there, done that, got the T-shirt, and Welcome To The Dollhouse (but highly recommended) had a major effect on me. But the cover was eyecatching, but simple, and decided why the hell not.
What's amazing about this film, is that it totally focuses on the main characters. There's barely a mention of parents, apart from a couple of brief shots, and most of it takes place on what looks like a very peaceful river. What's the worst that could happen? It's not like they're white water rafting or something. (Which I thought was gonna happen.)
Rory Culkin will probably never come out of the Culkin shadows, but he does give it his best shot most of the time, I just wish he didn't play the little boy lost character all the time! Even IMDB won't show an older shot of him on their main page. He seemed a little bit lost amongst all the older characters (Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Trevor Morgan and Josh Peck), and his relationship with Millie (Carly Shroeder) is so innocent, it's sweet to watch.
I'm still not sure whether George (Josh Peck) deserved what happened to him or not. And the movie never really says either, it's left hanging as to what happens to all the kids, and lets the viewers make up their own minds. But George did have the ability to push people too far. What would you do in that situation? As it says in Mean Creek, if you could snap your fingers and they would drop dead, would you? It's a very difficult question to ask.
I thought the film started to drag towards the end, after what happened to George, happened, and they all went home. It could have been edited a little better there, but I suppose it kept the suspense going.
Mean Creek definitely comes highly recommended, and stands head&shoulders above the other teen movies. It's got an R rating, so it's proceed with caution if you're young, but it's a real eye opener, and makes all the other teen movies pale in comparison.
Good!! This is a good movie that is&disturbing as other viewers pointed out so I do not have to say much more.
But if you want to see a REAL disturbing movie that MEAN CREEK took some of the storyline from, go and check out BULLY.
BULLY is based on true events&will suck you into the story and won't let go. You will feel like you are actually there participating with the characters.Not quite as disturbing as all that... Read the other reviews. You will get a good idea of the film. It is disturbing, and it is something that you can picture actually happening. The characters all seem "real", their reactions fitting the personality of each appropriately. But... if you have seen Kids, Bully, Requiem For A Dream, Eraserhead, Irreversible or any of the other reality horrors... this one won't be quite as disturbing as you might otherwise be led to believe. Personally, I find the Billboard top 200 much more distrubing than this. And the mall.
