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08/14/07
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Mean Creek (2004)
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Reviews Counted:34
Fresh:31
Rotten:3
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: Mean Creek is an uncomfortably riveting glimpse into the casual cruelty of youth.
Theatrical Release:Aug 20, 2004 Limited
Box Office: $295,919
Synopsis: Director Jacob Estes's feature film debut is a remarkably accomplished coming of age drama about death and consequences. When overweight, emotionally troubled George (Josh Peck) beats up a smaller... [More]
Starring: Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Trevor Morgan
Director: Jacob Estes
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Reviews for Mean Creek
Top CriticEstes' dark sunlit tale cuts like a knife.
10/19/04
Top CriticAlthough it is a flawed film, with a first half that moves slowly and sometimes tediously, it is redeemed by a second half that is gripping, not only for its action but for its moral complexity.
09/23/04
Top CriticYou could call Mean Creek a moral thriller. And the emotional currents the movie wades into are far more tricky than the gentle surface the kids' boat floats along.
09/17/04
Top CriticI never lived a story anything like this, but I understand the emotional life of this film -- and I'm betting you will, too.
09/17/04
Top CriticIn its simple portrait of a bully Mean Creek may be one of the most political and socially conscious films of the year.
09/10/04
Top CriticAs odd as it may sound, the best of the many good things that can be said of writer-director Jacob Aaron Estes' debut feature Mean Creek is that it could have been written by a teenager.
09/10/04
Top CriticThere are all sorts of other themes at work below the surface, including examinations of teenage peer pressure and moral responsibility.
09/04/04
Top CriticEstes dives into this material as if it's never been done before, and his characters and situations are so realistic and the film's tone is so assured that he succeeds at making it feel fresh.
09/03/04
Top CriticAn unusually truthful depiction of the way kids today talk, think and act.
09/03/04
Top CriticVery much its own picture -- and a damn sight better one than Stand by Me.
09/03/04
Top CriticTakes its place alongside Stand by Me and River's Edge as one of very few films to accurately portray the experience of growing up male.
08/27/04
Top CriticYet another small gem from the strong Sundance class of 2004, Mean Creek mines credible drama from teenage revenge fantasies.
08/27/04
Top CriticThat rare movie that manages to be not only an adroit, carefully observed study in character and suspense, but important.
08/27/04
Top CriticA thoughtful, unpretentious coming-of-age drama with uncommon emotional heft and an engaging young cast.
08/27/04
Top CriticNever preachy, never sanctimonious nor touchy-feely, Mean Creek looks at what a social worker would likely call the roots and the legacy of abuse.
08/27/04
Top CriticThrough the vast land mass of the teen movie, Mean Creek flows with intelligent purpose and thematic passion, at least until it doesn't.
08/27/04
Top CriticIt could have been simple-minded and predictable, but it becomes a rare film about moral choices, about the difficulty of standing up against pressure from your crowd.
08/27/04
Top CriticOne of the year's very best independents.
08/26/04
Top CriticIt's a dynamic debut for first-time writer-director Jacob Aaron Estes and a provocative showcase for a gifted young cast.
08/26/04
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