Mean Creek

Review By: Daniela Chunga
Dani@thecinemasource.com

If you could snap your fingers and instantly kill someone, would you? And who would kill?

What if this person you are planning on killing has no control over his actions, would you still want to see him/her dead?

What if you planned out a means of teaching them a lesson but later on realize that maybe it wasn't such a good idea, do you still think that fate has a funny way of reminding you why you wanted to teach that person a lesson in the first place?

Or, do you feel that everything happens for a reason like the kids of Mean Creek who quickly realize what fate has in store for them when they plan a practical joke on the local schoolyard bully, George (Josh Peck), which goes horribly wrong.

At first glance, George appears to be your typical, run-of-the-mill, suburban schoolyard bully who uses Sam (Rory Culkin) as his regular punching bag. Sam's older brother, Rocky (Trevor Morgan), feels that enough is enough and soon conspires with buddies Marty (Scott Mechlowicz) and Clyde (Ryan Kelley) to create an elaborate plan to handle the situation. Their plan is simple:

1. Lure George into thinking that he is actually invited to an exclusive birthday party for Sam.
2. Take George out to a secluded portion of the river and plan a little game of truth and dare.
3. Make sure that George chooses dare and dare him to get naked and jump into the river.
4. Once in the river, steal his clothes and make him swim all the way home: naked.

Sounds like a harmless prank, right? But, plans quickly change as they realize that George isn't as terrible as he appears. In fact, George turned out to be nauseatingly nice, which is weird for a bully. The gang seems to think that maybe they were wrong about George the whole time. Maybe he didn't have any control over what he was doing. Maybe, but the kids of Mean Creek rapidly see through his deception and revert back to their original plan which goes horribly wrong and they must figure out what to do with themselves but more importantly with the body.

While this movie's starring line contains no remotely recognizable names, with the exception of Rory Culkin, the stars are bound to leave an unbelievable impression long after the credits have rolled. Every one of them portray a slightly ‘troubled' teen who has to cope with the harsh reality of life which, enviably makes it hard to single one of them out as a central star. Both Sam (Culkin) and Millie (Carly Schroeder) have to deal with a budding romance as well as their horrific first date which takes a tragic twist upon the coincidental death of George. Clyde (Ryan Kelley) has to deal with the entire town talking about his two fathers while Marty (Scott Mechlowicz) tries to bury the truth about his. ...