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''Mean Creek'' is a 2004 American
coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
psychological drama Psychological drama, or psychodrama, is a Genre, subgenre of Drama (film and television), drama and psychological fiction literatures that generally focuses upon the emotional, mental, and psychological development of the protagonists and other c ...
film written and directed by
Jacob Aaron Estes Jacob Aaron Estes (born September 6, 1972) is an American screenwriter and film director known for his films ''Mean Creek'', ''The Details (film), The Details'' and Don't Let Go (2019 film), ''Don't Let Go''. Career Estes was a theatre major at ...
and starring Rory Culkin,
Ryan Kelley Ryan Jonathan Kelley (born August 31, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Mean Creek'', '' Prayers for Bobby'', as Ben Tennyson in '' Ben 10: Alien Swarm'', and as Deputy Jordan Parrish on '' Teen Wolf''. Early life ...
, Scott Mechlowicz, Trevor Morgan,
Josh Peck Joshua Michael Peck (born November 10, 1986) is an American actor, comedian, and YouTuber. Peck began his career as a child actor, appearing in the film Snow Day (2000 film), ''Snow Day'' (2000) and the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series ''The Ama ...
, and Carly Schroeder. The film is about a group of teenagers in a small
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
town who devise a plan to get revenge on an overweight, troubled bully during a boating trip. When their plan goes too far, they have to face unexpected consequences. It was produced by Susan Johnson,
Rick Rosenthal Richard L. Rosenthal Jr. (born June 15, 1949) is an American film instructor and director, known for directing '' Halloween II'', '' Bad Boys'', and '' Halloween: Resurrection''. Early life Rosenthal was born in New York City, the son of Hinda ...
, and Hagai Shaham. The film premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
on January 15, 2004, and was later screened at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
on May 14, 2004. It was then given a
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
in major US cities on August 20, 2004, mostly playing at
art house An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...
theaters.


Plot

In a small Oregon town, overweight school bully George Tooney films himself playing
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
. Small and quiet Sam Merric touches George's camera, resulting in George mercilessly attacking Sam. Sam tells his older brother Rocky about the incident, to which Rocky tells his friends, reserved Clyde and troubled Marty Blank, thus devising a plan for revenge. Part of the prank involves taking George on a boating trip to celebrate Sam's fictional birthday. Then, they plan to strip him in a game of
truth or dare Truth or dare? is a mostly verbal party game requiring two or more players. Players are given the choice between answering a question truthfully, or performing a "dare". The game is particularly popular among adolescents and children, and is so ...
, throw him into the river, and make him run home naked. Sam invites his new girlfriend Millie along, and Marty drives the group to the river. During the ride, George reveals a different side of himself by being genuinely pleased to be invited and that he is
dyslexic Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, writ ...
. However, Sam does not tell Millie the real plan until they arrive near the river. Millie refuses to continue until Sam promises to call the plan off. Sam tells Rocky, who then tells Clyde and Marty, with Marty being very reluctant to do so. Throughout the trip, George clumsily attempts to fit in with the group. Despite this, he also gets confrontational when questioned about his motives (or lack thereof). The group soon realizes that although George is annoying, he is just very lonely and only wants to be socially accepted. On the boat, Marty deviates from the plan and initiates a game of truth or dare, though the rest decide to go along. After George sprays Marty with a water gun in good fun, he makes a funny quip about Marty's father, not remembering that it is a sore subject as Marty's father committed suicide. This triggers Marty, who exposes the whole plan. A heated George lashes out at the others, aiming
homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
slurs at Clyde over his gay father, and
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
pejoratives at Millie. The confrontation ends with George taunting Marty about his deceased father by repeatedly chanting, "His daddy splattered his brains all over the wall!" As Rocky tries to stop the fight, he accidentally shoves George off the boat and into the water. Unable to swim, George struggles to remain afloat in the water. As the others watch the scene in terror, George accidentally hits his head with his camera and does not come up to the surface. Rocky dives into the water and finds George, who is face down in the shallow water close to the shore. Millie attempts to give George
CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function and maintain circulation until sp ...
, but is unsuccessful. Traumatized, the group digs a hole on the shore and buries George's corpse in a shallow grave. Clyde's plan is to explain to the authorities that it was an accident, but Marty threatens him, reminding Clyde that George's camera (now lost in the water) contains Marty's taped confession of the original plan, and the authorities will find out if the camera is discovered. As they had already tricked George into not telling his mother where he was going, she would not know of their involvement. They later gather at Sam and Rocky's house. Sam, Rocky, Clyde, and Millie are willing to face the consequences as opposed to having George's death hanging over their heads. Marty refuses to turn himself in and feels betrayed. He storms out and convinces his brother to give him his gun and car. He then robs a gas station and leaves the country, becoming a fugitive. Meanwhile, the others go to George's house and confess to his mother. Sam is later seen inside an interrogation room, telling the story to the police, who later find and view the tape from George's camera. The tape reveals George explaining his dream of becoming a filmmaker and documenting his life in hopes that those who see it will finally understand him. The police force, Sam, his father, and George's mother find the location of George's corpse. As the sheriff exhumes George's corpse, Sam watches on in regret while George's mother cries in grief. George ends the video and turns off the camera.


Cast


Production


Development

''Mean Creek'' was originally conceived by director
Jacob Aaron Estes Jacob Aaron Estes (born September 6, 1972) is an American screenwriter and film director known for his films ''Mean Creek'', ''The Details (film), The Details'' and Don't Let Go (2019 film), ''Don't Let Go''. Career Estes was a theatre major at ...
around 1996 and 1997. At the time, Estes felt that there were very few films about kids dealing with a tragedy, a genre he had always admired both as a kid and as an adult student of film. The film was independently financed with a budget of $500,000, although about $350,000 of it was spent off screen or donated.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
of ''Mean Creek'' began July 19, 2003 in several locations in
Clackamas County, Oregon Clackamas County ( ) is one of the List of counties in Oregon, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county sea ...
, including the cities of Boring,
Sandy Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Sandy (surname), a list of people * Sandy (Iranian music band), Iranian singer, comp ...
, and Estacada. The crew was largely hired out of
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...
, and the production headquartered in neighboring Gresham. Footage on the river was filmed on the Lewis River in southwest Washington.


Release

''Mean Creek'' premiered at the 2004
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
, and was screened as part of the
Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (, formerly ) is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festival as a ...
at the
2004 Cannes Film Festival The 57th Cannes Film Festival took place from 12 to 23 May 2004. American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino served as jury president for the main competition. While American filmmaker Michael Moore won the Palme d'Or for the documentary film '' Fahrenh ...
.


Reception


Box office

''Mean Creek'' received a
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
in North America in four theaters and grossed $29,170 with an average of $7,292 per theater. The film earned $603,951 domestically and $198,997 internationally for a total of $802,948. Based on a $500,000 budget, the film can be considered a modest box office success.


Critical response

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
praised the acting and concept of teenagers making conscious moral decisions and wrote "''Mean Creek'' joins a small group of films including '' River's Edge'' and ''
Bully Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggressively dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perc ...
'' which deal accurately and painfully with the consequences of peer-driven behavior. Kids who would not possibly act by themselves form groups that cannot stop themselves. This movie would be an invaluable tool for moral education in schools, for discussions of situational ethics and refusing to go along with the crowd."
A. O. Scott Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic, known for his film and literary criticism. After starting his career at ''The New York Review of Books'', '' Variety'', and ''Slate'', he began writing film ...
, writing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', called it an "honest, provocative picture" and "earnest almost to a fault, exploring the moral difficulties of its characters with heartfelt—and at times heartsick—empathy." Moira Macdonald of ''
The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...
'' praised the film's performances and added that "Estes has an uncanny knack for creating character, and for finding the kind of throwaway detail that resonates — the dull two-tone ring of a convenience-store door, for example, seems to speak volumes about the boredom and restlessness these kids face."


Accolades


See also

* Dyslexia in popular culture


References


External links

* * * *
Screenplay
at Drew's Script-o-rama
Official trailer posted by Carly Schroeder on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mean Creek 2004 films 2004 crime drama films 2004 directorial debut films 2004 independent films 2000s American films 2000s coming-of-age drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s psychological drama films 2000s teen drama films American coming-of-age drama films American crime drama films American films about revenge American independent films American psychological drama films American teen drama films English-language crime drama films English-language independent films Films about bullying Films about disability in the United States Films about pranks Films directed by Jacob Aaron Estes Films scored by Tomandandy Films set in Oregon Films shot in Oregon Films shot in Washington (state) Focus Features films John Cassavetes Award winners Paramount Vantage films Teen crime films Whitewater Films films