Review of Manic (2001) by Ice R — 24 Aug 2009

Manic is lent exceptional power by a group of talented performers, bringing life to a bunch of teenagers who you've probably seen around high school and ignored completely. In the wrong hands, many of these characters might have seemed like cliches, but the film gracefully allows us to recognize that they are a group of mentally ill youths sliding themselves into socially accepted roles in an attempt to fit in. The subsequent frustration and rage when they fail is depicted in Manic for us to see, and each performer really gets at the person behind the stereotype, immensely sharpening the film's human touch. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's ascension to dramatic power is obvious here; he gives a wild, diverse, sickeningly scary range of emotions. His moods don't swing, but undulate slowly. Impending breakdowns and outbursts are telegraphed perfectly by silence and non-reaction, much like the behavior of an intelligent young man who recognizes the power he has. Zooey Deschanel, who I've never liked, gives a sumptuous against-type performance as one of the most dead souls I've ever seen. Don Cheadle is not quite right, playing his role suspiciously green: if the doctor had been new to the facility, he would have fit perfectly, but Cheadle is meant to play a veteran at the home. His awkward, unnatural attempts at reaching out to the group don't seem to gel with his supposed experience. The rest of the cast, primarily unknowns, all fit perfectly in their roles, and had this film taken off at the box office they probably would have all rose to great careers.

The film has two stumbling blocks. The first is a suspicious need to signpost where each of these childrens' mental disorders come from (my dad beat me, my mom was mean, etc.) For a film so trusting in its viewer's observational ability and general knowledge of human behavior, inference would have worked better than exposition. It wouldn't be a problem in an isolated case, but we get backstories for every single character, which makes Manic feel a little hesitant. The second problem is the camera work, difficult to no real effect. If you can stand it past half an hour it won't bother you anymore, but it's obtrusive and doesn't really do much concrete to highlight the aesthetic or the drama.

If you're on a Joseph Gordon-Levitt kick after 500 Days of Summer, this is a definite must. If not particularly illuminating about teenage mental illness, it is most successful at creating a rich and realistic group of people. A sad, noble, human tale.