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Thumbsucker
(directed by Mike Mills, 2005)
First of all: Marvelous performances. One of the best ensemble casts I think I have ever seen. Vincent D'Onofrio, Lou Pucci, Vince Vaughn, Tilda Swinton, Keanu Reeves, Benjamin Bratt, Kelli Garner and all of the other minor characters that come and go. Thumbsucker had the right actors and they all performed exceptionally good.
The movie deals with a 17 year old guy named Justin Cobb (Lou Pucci), who sucks his thumb, but the fact that he sucks his thumb does not take up much of the movie. Thumbsucker is a deep examination and an unfolding mystery of all the various components that make up Justin's life. At times, I wasn't really sure if the movie was on track -- it felt like a washing machine spinning wildly out of control -- but the results were clean clothes, brighter colors and overall satisfaction.
The film begins with Justin as a solemn, morose, introverted and pathetic creature. We see how dysfunctional his family is, particularly his mother, played by Tilda Swinton. He calls his parents by their first names -- because "mom" and "dad" makes them feel old. His mother takes him into a dressing room while she's trying on dresses -- trying to find the right outfit for a picture to send to an actor she has a crush on (played by Benjamin Bratt) as part of a contest where the winner gets to go on a date with him -- yeah, and she's still married. His father cannot stand the fact that he sucks his thumb, so he writes his initials on his son's thumb to make him stop -- I'm still not sure what it's supposed to do, but I think the point is that it's just his technique. This causes embarrassment when he spends a day with a girl -- the first girl he's been close to -- who inquires about the letters on his thumb (he won't tell her what it means.)
We also meet his debate teacher, played by Vince Vaughn -- and oh my god, I thought Vince Vaughn was sexy as hell as this character. Justin isn't doing well at all in this class, but in the middle part of the movie, he finally gets some ADHD medication which brings him out of his shell and gets him to start speaking up and talking a mile a minute, leading him to become a golden boy of the class. There's also his orthodontist, played by Keanu Reeves, who does a guided meditation on Justin to get him in touch with his power animal (for some reason, this guided meditation also worked on me and I thought of the Caddyshack gopher.)
Now I really want a guided meditation CD with Keanu Reeves as the speaker.
There's not much else I desire to say about the movie except that I enjoyed it a lot and I thought it was one-of-a-kind, happy and fascinating. This is, however, one of those movies where they play songs way too much -- modern, happy hippie music. There was one scene with a montage of events that felt like a mini-music video and it almost lost me. I also wasn't too crazy about the very ending of the movie -- it's one of those silly endings I've seen before where someone is running around in the streets, free and full of joy. But, at its best, everything seemed to come together at the end, at least. Could have been better, but could have been a lot worse. I must say, though, that I'm also a little disappointed with what happened to Keanu Reeves' character -- he sort of meets a sad, dead-ish fate that doesn't seem very realistic. He does almost a complete 180 and it just felt forced and extreme. This is not Keanu's fault, though -- he makes what he has work -- very well, actually. Just could have been better.
And again, Vince Vaughn is beyond cute as the teacher.
I give this movie...
(directed by Mike Mills, 2005)
First of all: Marvelous performances. One of the best ensemble casts I think I have ever seen. Vincent D'Onofrio, Lou Pucci, Vince Vaughn, Tilda Swinton, Keanu Reeves, Benjamin Bratt, Kelli Garner and all of the other minor characters that come and go. Thumbsucker had the right actors and they all performed exceptionally good.
The movie deals with a 17 year old guy named Justin Cobb (Lou Pucci), who sucks his thumb, but the fact that he sucks his thumb does not take up much of the movie. Thumbsucker is a deep examination and an unfolding mystery of all the various components that make up Justin's life. At times, I wasn't really sure if the movie was on track -- it felt like a washing machine spinning wildly out of control -- but the results were clean clothes, brighter colors and overall satisfaction.
The film begins with Justin as a solemn, morose, introverted and pathetic creature. We see how dysfunctional his family is, particularly his mother, played by Tilda Swinton. He calls his parents by their first names -- because "mom" and "dad" makes them feel old. His mother takes him into a dressing room while she's trying on dresses -- trying to find the right outfit for a picture to send to an actor she has a crush on (played by Benjamin Bratt) as part of a contest where the winner gets to go on a date with him -- yeah, and she's still married. His father cannot stand the fact that he sucks his thumb, so he writes his initials on his son's thumb to make him stop -- I'm still not sure what it's supposed to do, but I think the point is that it's just his technique. This causes embarrassment when he spends a day with a girl -- the first girl he's been close to -- who inquires about the letters on his thumb (he won't tell her what it means.)
We also meet his debate teacher, played by Vince Vaughn -- and oh my god, I thought Vince Vaughn was sexy as hell as this character. Justin isn't doing well at all in this class, but in the middle part of the movie, he finally gets some ADHD medication which brings him out of his shell and gets him to start speaking up and talking a mile a minute, leading him to become a golden boy of the class. There's also his orthodontist, played by Keanu Reeves, who does a guided meditation on Justin to get him in touch with his power animal (for some reason, this guided meditation also worked on me and I thought of the Caddyshack gopher.)
Now I really want a guided meditation CD with Keanu Reeves as the speaker.
There's not much else I desire to say about the movie except that I enjoyed it a lot and I thought it was one-of-a-kind, happy and fascinating. This is, however, one of those movies where they play songs way too much -- modern, happy hippie music. There was one scene with a montage of events that felt like a mini-music video and it almost lost me. I also wasn't too crazy about the very ending of the movie -- it's one of those silly endings I've seen before where someone is running around in the streets, free and full of joy. But, at its best, everything seemed to come together at the end, at least. Could have been better, but could have been a lot worse. I must say, though, that I'm also a little disappointed with what happened to Keanu Reeves' character -- he sort of meets a sad, dead-ish fate that doesn't seem very realistic. He does almost a complete 180 and it just felt forced and extreme. This is not Keanu's fault, though -- he makes what he has work -- very well, actually. Just could have been better.
And again, Vince Vaughn is beyond cute as the teacher.
I give this movie...