Review of Mean Creek (2004) by Lucas Y — 24 Oct 2008

Writer/Director Jacob Aaron Estes' debut film Mean Creek is a haunting tale about morality, identity, and facing your demons. A group of teenagers embark on a trip to set-up a prank on the school bully George (Josh Peck) because he beat up their friend Sam (Rory Culkin). As the trip unfolds and the prank is finally (sort-of) put into play, things go terribly wrong and the teenagers are faced with a moral dilemma like no other.

The acting here is uniformly brilliant. Rory Culkin was very solid along with Carly Schroeder, Trevor Morgan, and Ryan Kelley. The two kid actors who stand out are Scott Mechlowicz and Nickelodian veteran Josh Peck. They both rise up and give excellent performances. The interaction these two characters have is terrifyingly realistic, showcasing Jacob Aaron's wonderful script.

The first half of Mean Creek does a great job of building character relationships. The focus is heavily on the eccentric fat bully George and his interactions with the other characters. As the plot unravels each character begins to undergo reform, having second thoughts, etc. I thought this was executed perfectly by Jacob Aaron's, revealing his characters to be the multi-layered youths that I hoped they would be.

The second half deals with a tough moral dilemma that pushes these kids into adulthood. One again, Este's does this part justice by making it achingly realistic.

Mean Creek is getting a high rating with me, despite its somewhat routine plot because of the way the film is made. Not once, not once did I sit there and say, "I'm watching Hollywood desperately try to capture the essence of being a teenager." This film is very realistic in it's portrayal and leaves the viewer, especially this viewer, something to think about for a long time.