Did he get what he deserved? (Mean Creek (DVD))

Member Name: Great_reviewer07

Product:	Mean Creek (DVD)
Date:	22/06/09 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Compelling, good story

Disadvantages: Slow at times

George Tooney (Josh Peck) is the overweight school bully, he picks on younger boy Sam (Rory Culkin) who can't defend himself against the coward. When Sam gets smacked around the head by George one day, Sam's older brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan) notices bruising on his face and Sam admits to Rocky that George is bullying him.

After confiding in his friend Marty (Scott Mechlowicz) about his little brother's bullying, Marty and Rocky hatch a plan to pay George back for what he's done. They decide that they'll invite him out on a trip down the river with them along with Sam, their friend Clyde and Millie, the girl that Sam likes. While heading down the river they'll strip George before throwing him in the river, leaving him to run home naked. Sounds like a good plan eh? Well when George finds out about the plan he tells Marty and friends exactly what he thinks of them leading to a terrible accident...

Mean Creek, not to be confused with Wolf Creek is one of those underrated dramas that manages to slip under the radar because it isn't a big budget movie with an A-List cast but it doesn't mean that this isn't an extremely powerful piece of film making that will have you pondering way after it's over.

The only recognisable member of the cast for me was Rory Culkin, Macaulay Culkin's younger brother who is uncannily similar to his brother. The cast is excellent though and for a bunch of unknowns and for such young actors and actresses it's a big achievement. The character that stood out for me the most was the character of Marty. He's had deep personal trauma and when George brings that into the conversation, accidentally at first it sends him over the edge. The rest of the group back out of the plan as soon as they get to the river but Marty is adamant that they should still do it. His acting was probably the strongest of the bunch as he's the one that takes control of the group and tells them exactly what to do when things go horribly wrong.

Rory Culkin was very good too, he would have been about 14 when this film came out and he did a really good job along with the other young actress. It must have been an extremely challenging role for two such young people being in such a hard hitting film but they played their parts brilliantly.

Josh Peck who plays the school bully also did very well, he had another tough role playing such a diverse character, I also slightly recognised him from a kids show although I can't remember what it is. Even though he's only in around half of the film for reasons which will become apparent if you watch or have watched this but his performance leaves a lasting impression and is probably the most relatable. Everyone will know someone who was the school bully who although you hate them a part of you feels sorry for them because they were probably picked on as a child which made them turn out that way. This is exactly what Josh Peck's character is and although you think he may deserve a bit of a reality check you also start to see another side of him as the trip progresses which enables you to sympathise with him on some level.

The story is extremely thought provoking and harrowing. It's something that any bully victim would have fantasised about doing and I can't blame them. This story of course goes terribly wrong and leaves the kids with a moral dilemma about what's right and what's wrong. For such a tough subject I think it was handled very well as the kids become torn on what to do. It really makes you think about what you would do in that situation, of course everybody thinks that they would do the right thing but if in the real situation panic starts to set in and your mind works differently that it would under normal circumstances.

For such a low budget film I think this was really well made, you can tell straight away that the director didn't have millions of dollars to work with as it's set in a typical run-down American town. Some of the film was shot on a handheld camera that George has with him throughout the film and captures most of the action. Don't go thinking that this is another Cloverfield disaster though because the majority of the film is shot with a normal camera but it's a nice touch using the handheld to shoot things and it's obvious that the camera will come into play later on in the movie.

I was a little disappointed by the ending as it didn't completely wrap things up, I think it was the right ending for the subject matter however I would have liked it to have gone into a bit more detail about what happened to each individual character because you definitely feel for them all in different ways. It does however leave the ending to the viewers imagination which can sometimes work in it's favour.

There are some very compelling parts of the film but a lot of it does drag, it doesn't last too long but I think it can be a bit too slow at times and it would have been better if this was condensed a bit.

I would highly recommend this to any fan of drama films, this is very thought provoking and involves moral dilemmas which will keep you thinking about them way after the film ends. If you do watch this don't go expecting anything amazing but for a low budget film with mainly unknown actors then this is a real diamond in the rough.

The DVD is unfortunately very overpriced, it's available from play.com for £11.99.

Special features include:
Audio commentary from director Jacob Aaron Estes, cinematographer Sharon Meir, editor Madeleine Gavin and actors Josh Peck, Trevor Morgan, Ryan Kelley & Carly Schroeder
Storyboard
Film notes
Original theatrical trailer

Summary: A tense drama