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08/19/04
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Mean Creek (2004)
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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
Jacob Aaron Estes's debut film, about an adolescent prank gone wrong, is like an unusually sensitive and well-acted afterschool special.
08/19/04
Top CriticA harbinger of possibly better things to come.
08/19/04
Top CriticIt doesn't pander to or indulge its characters like the teen films we're used to. It looks at them straight ahead and with respect. It's something you wish Hollywood, and even parents, did more often.
08/19/04
Top CriticImagine a bolder Bully blended with a more probing River's Edge and you'll have some idea of this little drama's strong dramatic and emotional power.
08/19/04
Estes has provided a keenly-honed view of human psychology.
08/19/04
Top CriticAt once endearing and infuriating, Peck has the audience emotionally vacillating between wanting to protect him and wanting to kill him.
08/19/04
After-school-special level dialogue hangs heavily in the air after it is spoken. But the cast is utterly genuine, transcending the limits of the screenplay.
08/19/04
While Estes' tale is unfolding, very little seems anything but natural, plausible and emotionally scrupulous.
08/19/04
Top CriticThe kind of cheerlessly capable first feature that makes you think its young director, Jacob Aaron Estes, will do much better when he finds a voice to call his own.
08/19/04
Bullies are people too!
08/18/04
Mean Creek is an intense and riveting morality play that vividly conveys the anger and violence that can result from machismo posturing.
08/18/04
Rory Culkin delivers a performance of such incredible force that after a while I simply settled into a constant slack-jawed stare of astonishment.
08/18/04
A fairly ordinary, machine-shopped Sundance résumé indie, seemingly balanced somewhere between half-realized ambition and inexperience.
08/17/04
Top CriticThere is something precociously mature but natural about the work of this youngest Culkin sibling that stands apart.
08/11/04
Top CriticEstes' debut feature's strength lies in its crackling intensity, ultra-sharp character insights and an affinity for teenage protagonists who look and sound like real teens.
08/11/04
This affecting and absorbing character study may be the best depiction of alienated youth to wash ashore since River's Edge.
08/08/04
The script manages a few compelling characters, but the rest falls into that non-descript Troubled Teenager category.
08/07/04
A frightening journey into the heart of human darkness and morality. Sure to endure as a watermark of the coming-of-age genre for years to come.
08/06/04
For a first time director to provoke such impressive performances from a young cast is a good sign.
06/12/04
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