Manic (2001)

     Before doing the staple manic pixie dream girl movie, 500 Days of Summer, Joseph Gordan Levitt and Zooey Deschanel acted together in the lesser known Manic (2001).

  Having now watched both films, I can safely say I much preferred the latter. In my opinion, 500 Days of Summer did not properly get its whole subversion of the manic pixie dream girl trope across as effectively as it was obviously trying to, and ends up falling  victim to the very trope it was attempting to comment on. 

But, I am not here today to write about 500 Days of Summer.

    Manic is a film directed by Jordan Melamed  that follows its main character, Lyle, as he is admitted to a juvenile mental institution after severely beating up a guy at a baseball game with a bat. He meets the band of other institutionalized teens with whom relationships form and drama ensues. It's shot in a very up close and personal way with what looks like a handheld camcorder. There are a lot of extreme close up shots of the characters faces and a lot of shaky camera work that accompanies the many fight scenes. I'm a fan of the cinematography because I really think it suits the rawness of the film and what it's trying to portray. 

    The extreme close-ups add to the feeling of confusion surrounding the institution and characters. The handheld camera makes it feel like a documentary; as if this situation it actually happening. Even the dialogue adds to the oppressive realism. 

    Speaking of dialogue, there are some standout performances from really the whole cast. 

Anyways, to wrap up this short review, I recommend you watch this movie and I would rate it an 7.5/10.