Manic

Gordon-Levitt portrays a rage-filled teenager named Lyle Jensen in Jordan Melamed’s directorial debut. This drama film follows the story of Lyle as he is put in a psychiatric ward for violently attacking a classmate. In the hospital, he begins to deal with his anger issues as he interacts with other patients. Zooey Deschanel is Lyle’s love interest and Don Cheadle is the counselor.

I spent a lot of time with people who had been in hospitals just like this. I didn’t get to go into a hospital like [the one in the movie] because I think that would be rude and intrusive – and we weren’t allowed to. I went to support groups and halfway houses. We talked to a lot of people.