Synopsis
Follows the fate of Lyle, a violent adolescent who, in lieu of prison, is placed in a juvenile mental institution where he encounters a group of equally troubled teens. This motley crew - abused, sexually confused, violent, and yet hanging on by their grit and anger - becomes Lyle's last lifeline as he fights to find meaning in a world that seems to defy understanding.
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Cast
- Joseph Gordon-LevittLyle
- Don CheadleDr. David Monroe
- Zooey DeschanelTracy
- Michael BacallChad
- Elden HensonMichael
- Cody LightningKenny
- Sara RivasSara
- William RichertDiego
- Blayne WeaverCharlie
- Maggie BairdRebecca
Recommendations
- 80
Washington Post
Shows more hopelessness than optimism but is never less than honest. - 75
Chicago Tribune
This clear-eyed, low-budget drama is populated by troubled teens whose stories aren’t packaged in neat little bows. Their histories are sad, their feelings raw, their futures uncertain. - 70
Village Voice
Often the script (co-written by Michael Bacall, who plays sardonic bipolar rich kid Chad) rings clear with mouths-of-babes declamations that all pained kids spew before downing adulthood's suck-it-up Kool-Aid. - 67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The texture of Manic feels honest and the chemistry of the kids is well observed, but even the modest breakthroughs are dramatic conventions that favor the symbolic over the genuine. - 63
New York Post
Excellent performances redeem Jordan Melamed's gritty teenage version of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." - 60
Dallas Observer
Don Cheadle is wonderful, as always, as the former drug-addict-turned-psychiatrist who worries it's all hopeless but refuses to stop trying. Sounds clichéd, perhaps, but for the most part it works, thanks to piercingly authentic performances. - 50
New York Daily News
Searching for a documentary feel, the camera here is so shaky that you cling to the arms of your chair lest you pitch into the next row. - 50
San Francisco Chronicle
Buoyed by some sensitive performances and nearly tanked by insensitive filming.
