Diagonaldi Very well executed

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

SnoopyStyle Lyle Jensen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets into a violent fight bashing another kid with a baseball bat. His mother commits him to the Northwood Mental Institution run by Dr. David Monroe (Don Cheadle). He gets put into a group with other youths. He fights violent Mike. His roommate Kenny is quiet. He falls for Tracey (Zooey Deschanel) who has night terrors. Chad is a manic depressive. Sara has anger issues.This is trying very hard to be ultra-reality with its documentary shaky-camera style and gritty characters. The non-actors look like they've been in group therapy. I've never been in one and I can't discern its veracity. I expected a smoking area and some of the kids dealing with addiction problems. Its main drawback is a lack of a story structure. It may be helpful to have a ticking clock. It's a scattershot effect with everybody's problems. These are interesting performers taking on an acting course challenge. The girl who cuts is probably the best amateur. Gordon-Levitt is showing off his big time skills. The acting is solid but the movie doesn't rise beyond that.

karima-fehmi I think that the movie tries to show two things: 1. The way we become as human beings in society is shaped by our infancy. The situations that we were exposed as kids (violence, drugs, abuse, intolerance) mark our adulthood and unless we don't face it and do something about it there's no way we can live without it. 2. The second point is related to the first one. That is because no matter how far you run from your problems they'll run with you because you are the problem that has to be solved. It's a very touching movie that represents many problems through everyone of the people in the institution and how each one of them deal with their own problems. The direction of the movie shots always the face of the characters trying to let the audience see every expression everyone of them makes with every event that occurs in the mental institution.

DemiRonin Manic centers around Lyle, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a teenager with a furious and uncontrollable rage. At the beginning of the film Lyle gets sent to an psychological institute for bashing a boy's head in with a bat when the boy made fun of his father. Now confined against his will Lyle must learn to control his rage with a looney bin of kids whom he thinks are below him. Don Cheadle plays the in house psychologist who struggles daily to keep his kids from tearing at not only each other the but even the facility. This film has some amazing performances by all the entire cast, they are as realistic as they are powerful. From the white guy who pretends he's black and such a thug, to the sexually abused and the suicidal. All the youngin here provide true and deep portrayals of their scarred characters. I would like to note that Don Cheadle does a really good job in conveying a person who not only wants to help these kids but who's armor is not thick enough to have some deep scars of his own from their interactions. However the film is just terribly directed (non acting wise). The shooting method which seems to resemble really poor standard DV with amateurish framing and panning doesn't meld with his editing style. There are sections of the film where it lingers on basketball scenes or scenes of mayhem but the cinematography is all close ups and zooms of artsy things like birds or eyeballs. This film had great potential, but a little bit more planning for pace and shot selection would have done miracles. Manic has both realistic elements and very artsy elements, and a strong choice in one direction would have made for a better and more cohesive film.

elderlemon2003-1 While the jerky camera is a little off-putting at the beginning, it does add realism to the film, which considering the subject matter, suits it perfectly.The script is sharp as a tack, and the performances stellar, particularly from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, and the always reliable Don Cheadle.At turns brutal and heartbreaking, the film deserves kudos for its honest and unflinching portrayal of rage, the uncertainty of youth, cause and effect (from our actions and the actions of those around us), and the suffering of disturbed teens.Excellent movie. Highly recommended.