Review of Mean Creek (2004) by Moe J — 05 Aug 2012

"Mean Creek", an indie picture from 2004, tells the story of Sam (Rory Culkin), a young boy who gets beaten up one day by a bully named George (Josh Peck). When Sam tells his older brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan) about this, Rock, Sam, and Rocky's friends Marty and Clyde (Scott Mechlowicz and Ryan Kelley) plan to prank George.

They plan to invite him to a "birthday party" for Sam out on the river so they can make him strip naked, jump in the river, and run home naked. However, when the day comes and they go out on the water, the kids starts to feel sorry for George, realizing that George is lonely and they learn more about his dyslexia. But, Marty doesn't want to call it off and it all leads up to one moment when Marty has told George of the plan and George insults everyone on the boat, until he goes too far with one too many insults.

The movie is rated R (for language, sexual references, teen drug and alcohol use) in the States. Film critic Roger Ebert felt that the MPAA was being unfair in its decision, thinking that kids have heard the f word many times before and that the movie could be a useful learning tool in schools. I see his point, but then again, this movie's not for everyone. It's got a lot of swearing, which could make people uncomfortable, teens do drugs and drink, but most importantly , the final act could upset many viewers.

That aside, though, this movie is very well-made. The young actors are all very strong and the cinematography is gorgeous, with the shots of the sky, the lake, waterfalls, and flying birds.

I especially liked Josh Peck's performance as the bully. The movie shows he's not just some mean old bully. yes, hecan be mean, but in some scenes, we are shown that the kid has some humanity. In the beginning of the film, you see him pounding on poor Sam's character, but as soon as he stepped into the car to go to the river and said, "Happy birthday, Sammy boy!", my heart broke because I felt so sorry for him, knowing what those kids had planned. I especially found the scene where George insults everyone on the boat to be very uncomfortable to watch because of all the horrible names he uses and terrible things he says about people, but at the same time, I found it to be very powerful.

So, like I said, "Mean Creek" is not a movie for everyone, but if you can handle it, you're in for a very powerful movie that shows that revenge is not always as sweet as it might seem.