At first glance,
17-year-old Lyle Jensen (Gordon-Levitt) seems eerily quiet and
withdrawn.
But he has a problem with anger, and this time his explosive rage
has landed him in the
juvenile
ward of a mental institution under the watchful eye of therapist
David Monroe (Cheadle). Can Dr. Monroe get Lyle and the
other teenagers to
open up, confront their demons, and reclaim their lives?
CRITIQUE
I guess the answer
to the question above is "somewhat," though I'm not giving
anything away by answering it. The thing about the question is the
viewer should watch how the teenagers deal with their problems,
and watching the film will give a more complete picture and
understanding of their achievements as opposed to only knowing the
answer.
Manic tells
stories of rage, redemption and confusion. Some of these teenagers
are violence-prone by nature, others are reclusive. They all have
different personalities and problems, but the one thing they have
in common is that they are alive. Don Cheadle plays the counselor
who meets with the teens every day to discuss situations and
problems, but usually he likes them to speak their mind and voice
their opinions on various subjects. Cheadle's performance is
pretty good and his characters gets respect as the only adult
there in communication with the teens.
The performances of
the younger cast is good, but I tend to find it too easy to play
mean, crazy and pissed off. The script tries to address certain
issues but doesn't always succeed in making a point, but there are
times when the dialogue is well-written. Some of the stories and
characters, like Zooey Deschanel's Tracey and Sara Rivas' Sara,
are handled only adequately. The few subplots that exist, such as
the one concerning Cody Lighting's Kenny, end up going nowhere at
the end of the film. The two main characters, aside from Michael
the bully (Elden Henson), are Lyle (Gordon-Levitt) and Chad
(Michael Bacall). The friendship between Lyle and Chad drives the
film, I think, yet the conflict between Lyle and Michael seems
forced. The film's ending is open-ended and it doesn't doesn't do
much for me, I guess I don't know how to interpret it if that's
what director Jordan Melamed's intention is. Most importantly the
script could've used a little more focus and a better ending.
Despite some of the
shortcomings, Manic remains a pretty decent film that's
honest about its subjects and features some good performances.
THE VIDEO
MGM presents Manic in 1.85:1
anamorphic widescreen. Shot with a digital camera apparently,
the print looks generally good but there is a lot of grain and
fuzziness about the picture. Adding to the documentary-like feel
of the film, the camera is often shaky so there is not a lot of
clarity or sharpness. Detail looks okay, I guess.
THE AUDIO
MGM presents Manic in English Stereo Surround.
Dialogue is mostly clear and easy to understand. Everything
comes from the front and that's fine for a film like this. The
original music score sounds pretty good, however. In terms of
quality, the audio is below the standard and there isn't much
activity.
THE EXTRAS
For a film that only received
a very limited theatrical release, the extras are pretty
generous, though I think director Jordan Melamed wanted to give
the DVD a good treatment. With that said, the extras start off
with an audio commentary by Jordan Melamed and co-writer/star
Michael Bacall. They chat about all sorts of things, such as
the filmmaking process, the acting, stories from the set,
characters, etc. I'd say they did a decent job, but at the end
of the day I didn't learn a lot. A track likely to enjoy for
those who are really interested in the film.
Though not listed
on the cover, a ten-minute making-of featurette is
included. Sadly it's your typical EPK-style look at the film;
plenty of film clips, a few on-set shots, and a round of
interviews with cast & crew describing their characters and
the film's story. I wouldn't call this featurette bad, so perhaps
the words "too simple" sound better. Next are several deleted
scenes with optional commentary. Melamed's comments on these
are not that interesting, and the scenes themselves are decent
at best. One or two could've stayed in the film, yet that
would've probably decreased the film's pacing.
You can
select to view the film with optional English and Spanish subtitles. The
100-minute feature is organized into
twenty-four chapters. A paper insert lists cast list and scene
selections.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Manic is a pretty
decent film overall with several shortcomings, yet the performances
are good. Video/audio is not that good but okay for a film like this.
Extras are somewhat interesting to have, but not necessarily
worthwhile. A recommended rental for those interested in alternative
drama.
