there was a point in this somewhere, i think, right? i feel cheated for being a JGL-ophile, but at least i still got to stare at deschanel even though she's less than peak at this point.

Felt like a student film. The camera moves so fast a lot of things are in a blur, which I'm sure is intentional, for effect, but after a while, it just gets annoying, and it's impossible to make out what's going on most of the time.

Really, really great performances. Not too much else, unfortunately. Feels like an acting reel.

It was alright. It employed the ‘shaky cam’ style which got on my nerves a bit. I mean, I get it. The characters are unstable. Manic, if you will. But it’s just so obvious. Perhaps it would’ve been okay ten years ago - when the style wasn’t as overused as it is today. The whole thing felt a little amateurish, to he honest. Still, it had some good performances and it’s not a horrible film.

Very convincing performance from all actors. Too bad that's only outstanding thing about this movie.

A movie that throws you into the middle of distraught teenagers who have lost their way. Kids who have put up with too much and now they are paying for it mentally. It is very well done, you don't really fully come to like Levitts character as he is in his own right a bad person and I can appreciate that. It seems everyone has to come to grips with themselves and its much much easier said than done. Don cheadle as the counseler is pretty low key here, yet you can feel that he is their sanity.

The people who said the direction in this movie looked like a student film are spot on. That's probably the reason that Mr. Melamed hasn't directed another film since. With that said, almost all of the performances are terrific (especially the ones you'd expect, JGL, Cheadle), and the story keeps your interest for the duration. A worthwhile experience overall (probably best if you just close your eyes, though).

This film presents lifes of the residents of a youth asylum, for temporary care, and it does so in realistic way. The camera angles give it a documentary feel, and in the end the films focal point is made with symbolism.

Very low budget and other than the star power, terrible acting

Gets the point across in a straight-up, honest way. Great acting all around.

In an attempt to be "artsy", Manic comes off as just angry. At the center of the film is a bunch of angry kids, but they remain static throughout the duration and at the end...yup, still angry. So the actors did a fine (and in some instances great) job of playing really flat characters. The camerawork was totally unnecessary and amateurish. Hand-held work is great when it fits. It definitely made no sense with this material.

Is it accurate ? I don't know, can't really judge... but it's brilliantly acted, that's for sure.

Great acting for the most part but the camera shakiness was annoying and it's hilarious that Hollywood thinks people say 'fuck' at least 2 times per sentence. It's distracting and unrealistic, honestly. But good movie overall.