“Mean Creek”

By David DiCerto
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- In "Mean Creek" (Paramount), a cruel game of payback becomes a life-altering lesson of conscience.

Director Jacob Aaron Estes, working with a young cast of relative newcomers, elicits strong performances in fashioning a modest morality tale to explore themes of revenge and remorse.

Set in rural Oregon, "Mean Creek" opens with the unprovoked pummeling of timid tweener Sam (Rory Culkin) by the much larger George (Josh Beck), his frequent tormentor and all-around schoolyard bully.

Cooking up a get-even scheme, Sam's protective older brother, Rocky (Trevor Morgan), invites George on a boat outing, under the pretense of a birthday celebration for Sam, the comeuppance kicker being that once afloat they will strip George and make him run home naked and humiliated.

But what was supposed to be a playful, albeit mean-spirited, prank takes a dark turn midstream -- literally and figuratively -- resulting in tragedy.

Paddling alongside them are Rocky's friends, Clyde (Ryan Kelley), a sensitive adolescent whose two gay fathers make him a ripe target for George's harassment, and Marty (Scott Mechlowicz), a tinderbox rebel without a cause still smoldering with anger over his father's suicide. Also on board is Millie (Carly Schroeder), a towhead who's sweet on Sam and who becomes an unwitting accomplice in the planned mischief.

While confining the meat of his story to a limited time (one day) and space (a rowboat and surrounding river banks), Estes nevertheless displays a sure-handed grasp of the material, sustaining a sense of tension which keeps viewers involved. The film, at points, echoes the juvenile savagery of William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies(ital), though apart from one explosively intense moment the violence is kept simmering on a low flame.

Much of what unfolds is conveyed through furtive glances and knowing -- or in George's case, unknowing -- smiles. This is especially true once things go awry and the characters are left to debate which course of action to take. Perhaps the most telling looks are the ones they wear on their haunted faces as they stare blankly at each other -- or in the mirror -- searching their own souls for answers, if not consolation.

The youthful ensemble is top-notch across the board, especially Culkin, Beck and Mechlowicz. The language is strong at times and there is a noticeable dearth of parental -- or, for that matter, adult -- figures in the movie, apart from Marty's abusive older brother (Branden Williams).

" Mean Creek" is basically a morality tale which examines not only the physical and psychological consequences of the actions involved, but the emotional residue they leave on the human soul. The film raises questions about conscience and each individual's inescapable duty to face his sins. A sense of divine judgment hangs over the proceedings, with the young players wrestling with guilt as they ponder the possibility of absolution. One even asks, "Can we be forgiven?"

The film ends on a somber but repentantly redemptive note, its final image capturing in tableau the words of Sophocles, "There is no witness so terrible and no accuser so powerful as conscience which dwells within us."

Due to a disturbing boating accident, fleeting rear nudity, underage drinking while driving and smoking marijuana, as well as some rough language and lewd humor, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted.

* DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.