Mean Creek (2004)

When a teen is bullied, his brother and friends lure the bully into the woods to seek vengeance.

Director:

Jacob Aaron Estes

Writer:

Jacob Aaron Estes

Stars:

Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz

4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Rory Culkin	...	Sam Merrick
Ryan Kelley	...	Clyde
Scott Mechlowicz	...	Marty Blank
Trevor Morgan	...	Rocky Merrick
Josh Peck	...	George Tooney
Carly Schroeder	...	Millie
Branden Williams	...	Kile
Raissa Fleming	...	Maggie Tooney
Heath Lourwood	...	Jasper
Ryan Peterson	...	Cashier
Michael Fisher-Welsh	...	Mr. Levinworth
J.W. Crawford	...	Tom (as James W. Crawford)
Shelly Lipkin	...	Mr. Merrick
Kaz Garas	...	Detective Wright
Hagai Shaham	...	Handsome Police Officer

Storyline

When Sam Merrick is beaten up by local bully George Tooney, Sam's older brother Rocky and his friends Clyde and Marty plan to pretend it's Sam's birthday to "invite" George on a boat trip in which they would dare him to strip naked, jump in the lake, and run home naked. But when Sam, his girlfriend Millie, Rocky, and Clyde see George as not much of a bad guy, they want to call off the plan, but Marty refuses. Will the plan go ahead as planned?

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Plot Keywords:

bully | friend | boat | river | oregon | 

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Taglines:

Beneath the surface, everyone has a secret.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexual references, teen drug and alcohol use

Details

Official Sites:

Whitewater Films

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 2004 (France)

Also Known As:

A harag sodrása

Filming Locations:

Clackamas River, Clackamas, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$29,170 (USA) (20 August 2004)

Gross:

$603,943 (USA) (10 December 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Whitewater Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marty's real name is Martini Blank.

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Goofs

When Millie is shown writing in her diary, she switches from being right-handed (from 14:14 to 14:35) to left-handed (from 14:36 to 14:44). The left-hand scene is Millie in the MIRROR! Her gold bracelet is on her right wrist, the hand she writes with. In the mirror, it appears to be her left. Also, the table where she grabbed the pen with her toes was on HER right side. But in the mirror it looks like it was HER left side.

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Quotes

[first lines]
George: Hey! What do you think you're doing? You're a punk, Sam!

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Crazy Credits

Hagai Shaham is credited as being the "handsome" police officer (he is also a producer of the movie)

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Connections

Referenced in The Comedians of Comedy (2005)

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Soundtracks

"The Sound of Settling"
Written by Benjamin Gibbard
Performed by Death Cab for Cutie
Courtesy of Barsuk Records

User Reviews

tight well made flick

You're not going to leave the theater whistling dixie, and a box of Kleenex is not the best accessory, but this tight well made little movie is worth the effort. The actors, mostly all kids, are very believable, everyone of them does a great job, and maybe the credit should go to the director. As the movie bounces along you kind of expect that something is going to go wrong. And, of course, it eventually does, and after the big scene, it's like downer city, for everyone including the audience. But so what, if you want to go see a happy flick there are plenty of those around. This movie depicts kids in a very realistic light. The dialogue, their emotions, their reactions to a crisis, are very spot on. Good movies like this blow away so called "reality" TV. A friend with me said this reminded him of a Gus Van Sant movie, I don't agree with that, Van Sant movies always have some really weird scenes in them that detract from the overall cohesion of the movie. Mean Creek doesn't do that, check it out.