Tom Lynch

First-timer Jonathan Melamed directs this tense drama about emotionally troubled teenagers who seem to lack self-knowledge. The film follows a select group of young people, led by a rage-filled Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who are residents of an unnamed private psychiatric ward, submersing itself inside each character's personal trauma. This approach offers us a tight, analytic view of the lives of kids who were harmed by bad parenting, bad friends, or both. The dialogue between the teenage characters is so convincing that initial distaste gives way to the realization that teenagers actually speak this way, making "Manic" an exercise in authenticity. Melamed's use of Steadicam gives the frequently soft-focused scenes an almost frenetic style, yet Don Cheadle, as the group's compassionate psychologist, gives perhaps the most gentle performance of his career. The film presents a wild setting of adolescents coping with their introversion, and actors Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, and Michael Bacall tread on, unafraid of exploration. Each of them, especially Levitt, is satisfyingly credible in the way they hide themselves. Melamed misses on occasion--namely in a key scene that suggests that loud music provokes violent behavior--but his tale ultimately finds its purpose and moral in the correct place, where kids struggle for the blamelessness they deserve, and where the possibility of healing largely outweighs the risk of failure. 100m.

"Manic" opens Friday at Landmark Century.

(2003-05-21)

Also by Tom Lynch

Wacky cadavers
"If you really want to know for sure that the human soul resides in the brain, you could cut off a man's head and ask it," begins chapter nine of Mary Roach's "Stiff."
(2003-05-07)

Our town, twisted
In "Wigfield: The Can-Do Town That Just May Not," writers Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello and Stephen Colbert embrace the hilarity of an oddball American small town.
(2003-04-22)

Their TV chariot awaits
It is 3:30, and Carrie has been waiting in line since noon. "I could care less about TV. I'm looking to get married," the young math teacher says.
(2003-04-15)

At the old ballgame
To accompany the first pitch, Southern Illinois University Press has published "Bottom of the Ninth: Great Contemporary Baseball Short Stories," a collection of stories by various writers that all use baseball as their muse.
(2003-04-09)

X-files
(2003-04-02)

Tip of the Week
(2003-04-01)

Doing the deed
(2003-03-26)

Lights, Camera, Hurry
(2003-03-19)

Temporary rock stars
(2003-03-05)

Time is on his side
(2003-02-26)

Notes from the Madden Underground
(2003-01-29)

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