Pain, Responsibility Source of Tragic "Creek"

Bullying is a fact of life – especially in primary school. From Elementary to High School the bigger, faster, meaner, cooler, stronger, etc. find ways to pick on even the seemingly most accomplished. No one comes off as unaffected, no life isn’t touched by a bully, and anyone that ever claims no aspect of this youthful psychological torture hasn’t happened to them in their lives is just plain lying. Bullying happens, and as hard as educators try to minimize the impact, it’s still a problem not going to go away anytime soon.

Like a youthful Hearts of Darkness, Jacob Aaron Estes’ debut feature “Mean Creek” tackles the subjects of bullying and disaffected youth head on, the lives at the heart of his picture changed irrevocably after a tragic trip up a backwoods river. The heart of the story belongs to 12-year-old Sam (Rory Culkin), a smallish Middle School student constantly being hammered by George (Joshua Peck), an older classmate held back for bad grades. After confiding in older brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan), together the duo come up with the perfect scenario for retribution.

The plot is simple: Inviting George to a fictional riverside birthday party for Sam, Rocky and his friends Clyde (Ryan Kelley) and Marty (Scot Mechlowicz) are in fact setting the bully up for a – hopefully – humorous comeuppance that will result in his naked humiliation. But Sam, along with friend Millie (Carly Schroeder), immediately starts having second thoughts, especially as George starts presenting himself as a mixed-up, intellectually stunted kid longing only for attention and friendship. Things are set firmly in motion, however, and as the journey down river progresses emotions are hurt and friendships fractured leading to a tragedy none of them can walk away from.

There are so many levels to Estes’ screenplay it is hard to know where to begin. No one here is immune from hardship or blame, as levels of bullying mix and mingle into one another until it is unsure where friendship ends and villainy begins. It is all very internal, shifting emotions and feelings continually pounding into one another with the forcefulness of a hurricane. Combining elements of “Stand By Me,” “The River’s Edge,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Apocalypse Now,” Estes and his cast deftly maneuver into a corner of heartbreak, rounding a bend into a territory most teenagers-in-crisis films are too uncomfortable to go.

The acting is universally excellent. Culkin continues to impress, building upon his quiet-kid repertoire (“It Runs in the Family,” “Igby Goes Down”) with his dexterous work here. Morgan (“The Patriot”) shows surprising range as the protective Rocky, while both Schroeder (“The Lizzy Maguire Movie”) and Kelley (“Stolen Summer”) are the face of apprehension, the bulk of their performances told through sadly downcast eyes and smoldering trepidation.

But the two anchoring “Mean Creek” are newcomer Mechlowicz and Nickelodeon favorite Peck. If the kids in this film are all from the wrong side of the tracks, then Marty is from the other side of the moon. The relationship between he and his brother borders on abusive, and with no father figure to call his own Marty passes off his aggression in the form of homophobic taunts (towards Clyde) and browbeating putdowns (towards Rocky). Mechlowicz does it all with a sadomasochistic self loathing that is uncomfortably humorous, and while prone to long spells of enchantingly seductive charm, like a Black Widow he twists that spell of friendliness into a web of dysfunction.

As good as he is, though, the movie belongs to gregarious Peck. A complex, multifaceted performance well beyond his young years, the teenager creates such a complex picture as the disassociated George I found myself admiring, relating and hating him within the same moment. When tragedy does strike, I couldn’t help but shed a tear, for all could have been avoided if only George could find a way to keep his mouth shut. Having lived so long alone so misunderstood and longing for friendship, he simply can’t and when true pain finally visits him the moment is shattering. Peck captures this with blistering precision, his acting one the year’s truest and most sincere pleasures.

What comes next is almost a snowball of pain, hysteria and self-loathing, and it’s hard to watch. Yet, the glory of “Mean Creek” is that these kids, so far out of the mainstream yet so close to the status quo, still find a way to come together and decide amongst themselves the right thing to do. As it always is in life, some will undoubtedly make the wrong choice, but for most the path of right and wrong isn’t as blurry and the majority of these kids know which road they need to choose.

Like most first films and low budget debuts, there are moments of false truth here and there. Marty’s final decisions reek not so much of desperation on the character’s part but of uncertainty on writer/director Estes. Also, “Mean Creek” starts weakly, the first ten to fifteen minutes full of cliché and blasé moments starting things off on shallow footing. There is no solid vibe, no clear direction, and it isn’t until the kids set out on their fateful quest things start to come together.

But like rapids rushing towards their source, the film quickly builds momentum the second the kids start heading down the river, and Estes’ comfort behind the camera and confidence in his screenplay and actors becomes more evident with every scene. What more, it is beautifully filmed by Sharone Meir (CBS’ “Hack”) and edited with precision by Madeleine Gavin (“Signs & Wonders”), each adding touches of class elevating things far above what potentially could have been a rather didactic After School Special.

It’s the kids, though, that cut the hardest swath. The final ten minutes or so are told in near silence, the looks on each youngster’s face more than enough to convey heartbreak and sadness. Watching them finally come together in universal realizations as to what has transpired and their parts played in it is like watching Greek Tragedy in my own backyard. I felt like I knew these kids, went to school with them and almost could have been a piece of their lives.

The glory of “Mean Creek” is that it doesn’t run away from these tragedies, it embraces them. In doing so, not only does Estes put his character on the hot seat, he points the finger of culpability right at them. With the majority of them standing up, rising to take responsibility for their actions, Estes shows that there is hope for the future, even if sometimes that hope springs from the darkest water imaginable.