One of the year's very best independents.
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08/26/04
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Mean Creek (2004)
90
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:115
Fresh:104
Rotten:11
Average Rating:7.4/10
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 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
Top CriticSuch a simple plot barely fills the film's 87 minutes, but writer/director Jacob Aaron Estes more than compensates with his labyrinth of moral dilemmas and complex characters.
08/26/04
A combination of River's Edge and Bully that's gentler but ultimately more compelling than either...told with uncommon authenticity and sensitivity.
08/26/04
Mean Creek is a movie that lures you in, then shocks and surprises the audience with a nice twist.
08/26/04
The poignant story represents its players’ vulnerabilities with swift and clean lines.
08/25/04
A coming-of-age film that finds poetry in the struggle to evolve even while the rest of the world is falling down.
08/25/04
Reach exceeds grasp in this small ensemble character drama in the vein of Stand By Me that succeeds far more in theory than in practice.
08/23/04
The problem with dramas about doomed teenagers movies is that once you have seen one of them, in a way you’ve seen them all.
08/23/04
“Mean Creek” is what independent film should be.
08/23/04
Estes' amazing ensemble cast may turn out to be the 2004 version of Coppola's "The Outsiders," which featured such 'unknowns' as Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon and Diane Lane.
08/22/04
Touches us on a personal level.
08/21/04
A welcome departure from typical movies about teens.
08/20/04
Top CriticThis morality tale takes its time -- almost too much -- setting up characters and relationships, but an undercurrent of suspense and impending doom keeps this Creek on course.
08/20/04
There isn't a one-note character in the mix, and they respond with haunting, subtle performances that feel utterly natural and unaffected.
08/20/04
A flawed yet promising first film from a writer/director whose ambitions exceed his grasp, at least for now.
08/20/04
Has a level of moral and psychological intricacy that is rare in high school fables.
08/20/04
Top CriticWe've seen much of what goes down in Mean Creek before. But I can't say I've ever seen it portrayed with such high standards of responsibility to the way kids really act, think and judge.
08/20/04
Estes and his cinematographer, Sharone Meir, present a vision of paradise and innocence lost in this beautifully understated drama.
08/20/04
Top CriticInstead of shock, the effect [director] Estes successfully achieves is empathy.
08/20/04
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