Jamie Marks Is Dead

Jamie Marks is Dead is an originally told downcast drama about two teens brought together after a classmate is found murdered in a rural town.

Carter Smith writes and directs Jamie Marks is Dead, drawing inspiration and adapting Christopher Barzak's debut novel One for Sorrow.

Jamie Marks is found murdered, naked and discarded amidst the detritus of decaying tree branches along the side of a creek. Classmate Adam becomes sympathetically absorbed in the death of the teenage boy who was not popular and often picked on. He and Gracie, the girl who discovered the body, become close from the murder when Jamie's ghost begins to appear to each of them.

Cameron Monaghan is Adam, the classmate inexplicably drawn to Jamie's death. Monaghan is a budding talent and brings a realistic and unexaggerated angst to the role. Jamie Marks is Dead is about the melancholic connection of the characters and unfortunately Morgan Saylor's Gracie and Noah Silver's Jamie fail to deliver.

Jamie Marks is Dead is original, moody and extremely dark. We examine the character's familial and interpersonal relationships through Jamie's death rather than being a suspenseful mystery to unveil the killer's identity. All the pieces for the plot are there but for some reason it never comes together believably. Adam's preoccupation with Jamie's death seems unfounded, and the character's evolution that yields the resolution seems premature.

The story itself is laid out extremely slowly. Director Carter Smith uses this time to create a gloomy outlook of the characters' world through clear and decisive cinematography. The film is beautiful to look at, capturing the dark and austere bleakness of rural life and balancing it with perfect lighting for watchable scenes.

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I LOVED this movie. It's about a couple of gay teenagers who don't get to know each other until after one of them dies. I don't understand why other online reviewers keep saying how sad it is, because to me it's marvelously positive, encouraging, romantic and satisfying. Those reviewers must think death is a big deal.

The story is fascinating and completely believable, which is extraordinary for a movie about the supernatural. The dialog is always perfect - economical and powerful. The direction, the acting by every actor in every role (especially Liv Tyler as Adam's neurotic mother and Noah Silver as Jamie - he's fantastic in a marvelously sweet, subtle and sexy performance), the cinematography, production design, sound, music, etc, could not be better. This is a fantastic movie.

The only huge flaw is the Frances character. She's unnecessary, contrived, unbelievable and very, very annoying. I almost quit watching when she became such a huge part of the story. The fact that I didn't, and that I'm giving it ten stars in spite of her, is testimony to how very, very good this movie is.

A very nice piece of a movie. Sad and disturbing, but not a horror film. This movie should make you think about life and the meaning of it; The way we treat other people around us. It should make us remember our own mistakes and re-think them. It made me remember scenes out of my own school days. I turn almost 40 now, but that makes me sure- everybody above the age of 18, will definitely have similar memories. Love is a big message. Maybe sometimes we love to little or should show our feelings to other people more. I really did like that movie; The characters are well written and the storyline is perfect. Don't watch if you await a horror movie! It's more like a "coming of Age" Drama with a great message.

"You know, what happened to Jamie, it was awful, and it was tragic, and it was everything else that everyone says it is. But we have a choice, and all of us have a choice, and I made mine. What did you choose? Not to see him."

"Jamie Marks is dead" is a sort of "Sixth Sense" story, combined with a narrative about teenagers and the troubles they experience during their teenage years. That it deals with supernatural apparitions is also a fact. Are you expecting a terrifying horror? Well in that case, this will surely be a major disappointment. Jamie Marks (Noah Silver who looks eerily like Harry Potter) is without a doubt as dead as a doornail. However, his spiritual alter ego has other plans and isn't going to exchange his earthly life with the spiritual easily. Is Jamie seeking for revenge on those who have made his life miserable? Or is his intention to persuade an individual to take that step to eternal life? Sometimes I come across movies I ask myself questions about afterwards. What the hell did I watch? And what was the ultimate meaning? What was it about for God's sake? "Jamie Marks is dead" is such a movie.

Jamie isn't exactly Mister Popularity at school. He's always a laughingstock. A mega scapegoat and doormat of the bullies in school. Nobody had any affinity with him and completely ignored him. Adam (Cameron Monaghan) has witnessed such harassment. He never participated in the bullying, but he never really intervened. Adam isn't exactly popular either, but thanks to his sporting achievements, he never suffered the same fate as Jamie. And then Jamie's body is discovered by Gracie (Morgan Saylor), an extravagant behaving teenage girl who collects stones. Spontaneously a friendship arises between Adam and Gracie, thanks to this unfortunate incident. It soon turns out that they both can see the wandering spirit of Jamie. Despite the warning of Jamie, who refuses to have any contact with this supernatural phenomenon, a kind of connection grows between the two boys.

"Jamie Marks is dead" is a difficult film. Especially if you try to understand the deeper meaning of it all. Is Jamie trying to create a friendship in this form of existence? Visible only to those who cared about him in a way? Because to be honest, everyone is pretty indifferent when it comes to his death in this community. Or is it an incomplete goal he ultimately wants to achieve? Could this goal be succeeding in winning Adam for himself? It's obvious Jamie feels something for him. He admired Adam during his running events. Ultimately, there is an odd sexual tension between the two. The way Jamie ecstatically reacts as Adam whispers a word into his ear or mouth. Or is it the symbolism of how Adam starts to discovers his own sexuality? Is this the reason why being intimate with Gracie isn't working out that well? Because of the appearances of Jamie?

"Jamie Marks is dead" is no self-evident movie. It is a bleak and depressing picture. A morbid movie with pretty crazy characters and situations. At first I thought this was a reflection of Adam's mental state. But this can't be, because Gracie can see dead Jamie as well. Not only the bizarre love triangle seems reasonable unworldly. The friendship that develops between Linda (Liv Tyler), Adam's mother, and Lucy (Judy Greer), a wacky woman who caused a road accident while being drunk after which Linda ended up in a wheelchair, isn't normal either. It's all rather incomprehensible (and not only because of the unintelligibly mumbling of Gracie). Most will look at this and say it's a waste of time and utter crap. Maybe I'm an odd guy, but I thought this was all quite intriguing.

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This is truly an inspiring story about something more than just being a teenage and how hard can it be for some people. It teaches us that we can find a true friend in the most unlikely of places, that that friend can be someone we never expected. Maybe, if we go deeper, this could be a way to tell us to not waist our time waiting for the right moment, because that moment is now, at every hour, at every minute, at every second.

It's not really a horror movie, but a sad coming-of-age one, with a fantastic and touching storyline, well-played characters and a peaceful soundtrack that makes it slow sometimes but never boring.