All the performances are poignant, and, while the screenplay reaches no new conclusions, it allows the actors room to create and grow.
Comment
05/08/03
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Manic (2003)
69
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:58
Fresh:40
Rotten:18
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: A well-acted drama about trouble teens.
Theatrical Release:Apr 25, 2003 Limited
Synopsis: Jordan Melamed's directorial debut is a strikingly honest depiction of life in a juvenile mental ward. Following a disturbing and violent fight at school, Lyle (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is... [More]
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Don Cheadle, Zooey Deschanel, Michael Bacall
Director: Jordan Melamed
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Reviews for Manic
Top CriticNever clearly defines the machine that its malcontent characters ... rage against, or overcomes its deeply embedded psycho-ward-movie clichés.
05/08/03
I'm guessing the art photography is meant to signify a fragile state; instead, it suggests an attention disorder to which camcorder-wielding filmmakers are dismayingly susceptible.
05/07/03
Top CriticSearching for a documentary feel, the camera here is so shaky that you cling to the arms of your chair lest you pitch into the next row.
05/02/03
Top CriticIt begins to feel a little like one of those made-for-TV, issue-of-the-week melodramas Linda Blair used to star in.
05/01/03
Top CriticShooting on digital video gives the film a spareness and immediacy that works well with its subject. The portrayals are all so natural and deeply felt that there are moments when it feels like we are watching something that is happening right now.
05/01/03
Shows scenes of life in a psychiatric unit, and it's up to you to draw conclusions about the usefulness or pointlessness of the high-tension life of the ward.
04/29/03
[A]n unrelenting and insightful look at some deeply disturbed young people and their dedicated but frustrated counselor.
04/28/03
Top CriticThe young cast throw themselves (quite literally) into their demanding assignments with vigor.
04/25/03
Top CriticThe camera work is so self-conscious and so intrusive that it consistently overrides our interest in the characters and their individual dramas.
04/25/03
Top CriticExcellent performances redeem Jordan Melamed's gritty teenage version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
04/25/03
Top CriticA stunningly potent story of troubled patients at a juvenile mental institution.
04/25/03
The film doesn't really go anywhere, other than outside for endless games of basketball, and the group-therapy environment allows for far too many young-actor monologues.
04/24/03
Spoiled adolescents fill a mental institution with whining, pouting, and tantrums, and we're supposed to feel their pain.
04/24/03
Presents a realistic portrayal of the kids' complicated and confounding mental illness.
04/24/03
While Gordon-Levitt leans hard on an overcompensatory Timberlake scowl, he's kept real by the rest of the ensemble.
04/22/03
Despite strong performances, the film is too loosely structured with a plot that looks like the director's going down a checklist.
04/03/03
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is terrific as the lead in this raw, indie, Gen X version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
02/07/03
The result is a harshly honest picture.
12/08/02
A US indie which borrows from the spirit of the best Dogme films.
10/26/02
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