Starring: Lou Taylor Pucci, Tilda Swinton, Vincent D'Onofrio, Keanu Reeves, Benjamin Bratt Directed By: Mike Mills (II) Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Sony Pictures Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 99 Release Date: January 24, 2006 Running Time: 96 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 2005
Amazon.com: A sterling cast--including Vince Vaughn, Keanu Reeves, Vincent D'Onofrio, and especially Tilda Swinton--lifts this coming-of-age story above the norm. Justin (Lou Pucci, Personal Velocity) is 17, yet he still sucks his thumb. Depressed, he frets that his parents (D'Onofrio, Full Metal Jacket, and Swinton, Orlando) are going to split up, that he has no focus in life, and that the girl he longs for can never love him--until his orthodontist (Reeves, The Matrix) hypnotizes Justin into quitting his thumbsucking, and a questionable diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder results in medication that launches him into a wave of over-achievement. The script, though it has some clever flourishes, never lifts beyond typical adolescent turmoil, but thanks to wonderfully vivid and multi-layered performances (including Vaughn, Wedding Crashers, as a debate teacher with hair issues), the movie never flags. Swinton also executive-produced the movie; she clearly saw in this suburban mother a character she could invest with as much emotion and intensity as the angel Gabriel (Constantine) or the White Witch of Narnia (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe). It's rich, intricate acting, never showy, yet mesmerizing. Thumbsucker also features Benjamin Bratt (Pinero) and Kelli Garner (Man of the House). --Bret Fetzer
Solid Thumbsucker is the first film made by indy director Mike Mills, in 2005, and it's a solid film, but nowhere near as good as one might presume according to its plaudits. The story was adapted from an autobiographical 1999 novel by Walter Kirn, and while it is uniformly well acted the basic problem is that it is yet in another of the series of `American suburbia is hell' films. Given the last few years of terrorism and war this simply does not resonate as strongly as it did a decade or so ago, and even then the horrors of being well-fed, having a good roof over one's head, and having to listen to one's parents was, to say the least, a tad overdone. But, the thing that is missing is the screenplay. Having not read the novel I have to put the blame on filmmaker Mills. There is just something a bit too ABC Afterschool Special or Doogie Howser about this film. Yes, drugs are bad, and life is tough for a teenager. So? This is where the failings of the script come in, because once the film was over, I didn't really care what happened to any of the characters, unlike, say, the flawed but better Mean Creek, or even a weaker film like Igby Goes Down. As good as Pucci is there is a blandness to him that any of the Culkin actor boys does not have. One can believe that those kids, with their slightly inbred looks and glassy eyes, really do suffer in silence, as they say. Pucci, well, he's just too white bread and charmed. And things like cute girls who catch you sucking your thumb on an airplane and then flirting with you do not occur. Also, the scenes with his parents, when Justin is about to go off to college, are just a wee too precious, with tears welling in the eyes. This is where the film really goes ABC Afterschool Special, and hits the viewer over the head with the message that life is about suffering and growing. To emphasize the point, Mills even has Perry Lyman return to say these very things before Justin leaves. And even though hi scharacter seems to have gotten over his hippy phrase, he still tosses off bon mots like, `The trick is living without an answer.' Whoa, dude....that's heavy, like. Note to Mills: condescension is never a good thing in the arts. However, there are enough good performances and scenes to make up for these flaws, if just enough.
Superbly twisted meditation on the difficulties of being a teenager Superb meditation on the pressures on modern teenagers - relationships, drugs, alcohol, expectation to succeed, difficulty communicating with adults - all the usual issues are there but told in a refreshingly twisted way anchored by a faultless performance by Lou Taylor Pucci as the troubled teenager Justin. There are also telling performances by Tilda Swinton, Keanu Reeves, Vince Vaughn, and Benjamin Bratt as well-meaning, yet deeply flawed adults - only Vincent D'Onofrio comes across a little flat as Justin's useless Dad. An impressive achievement for writer-director Mike Mills.
Thumbsucker review For an indie, the lack of obnoxious dialog makes Thumbsucker more enjoyable than other recent indie films about high school students. The student counselor who makes Justin's ADD diagnosis with a pamphlet shows a popular additude towards students like him. The Polyphonic Spree made a very fitting soundtrack and the visual effects are subtle. "Neo" as the dentist is a nice touch.
Great cast For such an obscure movie, this has a lot of big watt talent. Coming of age tale about a troubled teen who sucks his thumb. What's the point? I really don't know, but the pace is quick enough to carry the film along, and the script is very intelligent. Well worth watching.
Gentle coming-of-age tale An adolescent boy wrestles with problems at home and school. Justin's mom has the hots for a tv actor and is trying to win a date with him in a contest. Justin's dad, the former jock, is emotionally absent and resents having a thumbsucking, unathletic underachiever for a son. Justin's younger brother sees his older brother with jaded eyes; there is no fraternal adulation going on here. The girl Justin has a crush on taunts and teases but does not offer love. Enter Perry the orthodontist. To help Justin stop sucking his thumb, Perry hypnotizes Justin and suggests that he find his "power animal" and call on it whenever he feels like sucking his thumb. This one event leads to the unraveling of Justin and also has the unintended consequence of shattering Perry's worldview. Eventually Justin is diagnosed with ADHD and put on medication which turns him into a focused overachiever and wins him a place on the debate team. But Justin's newly found self confidence is not to last. I won't give away any more of the plot for those who have not seen it. I have to give special mention to the terrific soundtrack which really complements the events of the story, and to Tilda Swinton who hits all the right notes and lights up the screen, to Keanu Reeves who plays Perry with poignancy and humor, and to the boy who breathed life into "Justin: Thumbsucker." I thought this was a really touching story about the ups and downs of adolescence.
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