I should’ve seen this a long time ago. It’s my type of film – an offbeat, coming-of-age tale that makes you reflect on your own life, your own addictions.

Thumbsucker starts out somewhat slow, with scenes that hardly feel like they flow together in a cohesive manner, but halfway through the film you realize that everything’s relative, that it does have some kind of meaning. In a very literal sense the film seems to go through the same kind of transition that its protagonist Justin (Lou Pucci) does, which I found brilliant.

Oddly enough I found the casting to be done rather well. Despite the film featuring a bunch of big-name actors like Keanu Reeves, Vince Vaughn, and Tilda Swinton, it casts them in roles that feel incredibly different yet at the same time fitting (Reeves’ character was great). The other minor characters also had their own interesting quirks.

I do agree that Thumbsucker is a bit underdeveloped, but considering what the film is about I think what is there is fairly appropriate. It covers a vast array of emotions and experiences in what feels like such a short amount of time, and it’s definitely something you should devote at least one go-round to.

Well, I could try to say it nicely but I just plain hated this movie! ;) I just couldn’t get to feel anything for the characters (except disgut, the main character had really greasy hair, bleargh) and that’s an enourmous part of the fun gone for me. The story wasn’t so bad, I mean, the thumbsucking idea was fine but it could have been so much better. Also, what is up with Keanu Reeves? I thought he wasn’t so bad an actor, but his role in this was supposed to be really different from Neo, and then he acted it the exact same way!

I’m not used to being so mean in my reviews! But honestly I can’t think of a single redeeming quality about this movie. Wait, that’s wrong, the music was great! I love both Elliott Smith and The Polyphonic Spree. But even then, it seemed out of place – at least The Polyphonic Spree did.

The only reason I watched it all is because my cousin had rented it and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings… but then at the end it turned out he hadn’t liked it anymore than me and we could have been spared an hour of this. Oh well! ;)

But well, after all this not-niceness, I must say that I do see why some people like this movie. It has a certain style. (I also thought the little brother character wasn’t so bad.) It’s just not my cup of tea!

This movie is perfect for those helplessly addicted to addiction. An instant cult classic!

It is for anyone who has ever been addicted to somthing.

Mike Mills directs Lou Pucci, as Justin Cobb, as an awkward high schooler, who is in search of “normal.” He addresses his parents by their first names, “Audrey” and “Mike” because they do not want to feel old; he turns to prescription medicine because he believes it will turn him “normal”; and he takes advice from his dentist/wanna-be-guru. It is a quirky film, that moves at a pace similar to “Welcome to the Dollhouse.” It is also filled with some uncomfortable moments but what independent coming-of-age story isn’t?

There is one scene that caught my eye, where Justin is talking to his little brother, Joel. Justin has been so caught up in his own world that he forgets that other people have their own problems and Joel calls him on it.

Joel says, “You ever think that maybe you are so busy being weird that I have to step up and be normal?”

There are actually a lot of great lines in this film. I really enjoyed it but it definitely is not for everyone. If you like movies like “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” “Ghost World,” and other quirky coming-of-age movies, you might like this one as well.

Umm, you are all missing the point! This story is about addiction: Justin gets addicted to his girlfriend, obsessed with pleasing her and getting involved with animal rights and the debate club, though he is not really interested.

He also is addicted to thumbsucking and once Perry relieves him of this, he takes ritalin to “fix” himself and again, becomes addicted. Once again, he obsesses over winning in the debate club. Then drops this and becomes addicted to weed. Even his mother and father are addicted: his father to a lost past, and his mother to winning the contest and meeting a celebrity. When she doesn’t end up winning, she takes a job in a special celebrity drug clinic to meet him, knowing he’d be there.

The theme of the movie is that we often feel like children even as adults (Justin is 17 and still sucks his thumb like a baby, he becomes orally fixates through talking, smoking etc.). We have children, but aren’t prepared to be parents. And Perry sums it all up in the end. “The trick to life is to live without an answer… At least… I think”. GREAT movie!!! AWESOME soundtrack~!

If you go into this movie taking it seriously, you should find it to be one of the worst movies ever made. But if you look at it as a dark comedy, it is Hilarious. Ecspecially the parts with Keanu Reeves. But I won’t get into that.

I felt little sympathy for the characters too, because of their self-absorption. Hyper-focusing on our problems blinds us to the problems of others, and it is connection that gives us consolation. I thought that was the point of the movie. Obsession with fixing ourselves reminds me of our 43Things lists.

This film is so unengaging. The characters are bland, the family don’t seem to have any relationship with each other. It’s full of the same psychobabble it claims to be critiquing. I didn’t care that Mom was unfulfilled, Pop was bitter or that no-one listened to the youngest kid.

The main character lucks out in school, gets diagnosed with ADD and all ritalined up. He becomes successful but then gives up the meds for dope, has a fling with a stoner girl, and then goes off to NYU. I mean, is that a unique and interesting plot? Clue: no.

It was all so ordinary. The direction lacked flair and seemed to be a hotch potch of techniques better used in Magnolia, Donnie Darko, Napoleon Dynamite. Go see those films instead because Thumbsucker is an afternoon TV Movie nothing more.

Eh, it was alright. It seem lacking. The best word I can think of is underdeveloped. Maybe the screenwriter should have done a few more drafts because the script lacks depth. The potential for depth is there. The relationship the boy has with his parents and teacher is obviously complicated and dysfunction. One day I’ll read the book. Surely that contains all the elements that couldn’t be squeezed into these two hours.

that best describes Thumbsucker’s family so it was easy for me to relate to. Thoughts that ran through my mind as I watched it were

I want to be smarter and more educated.
How scary that drugs are given out so freely as cure-alls and also do they take away who you really are..weaknesses and all or is this up for debate? (No pun intended)

Favorite Quotes

“Should I call you?”

“When your ready to be open.”

“I hate it when you say shit like that”

“Like what?”

“Like your the only one with problems. You ever think that your so busy being weird, I have to step up and be normal?”

Not sure why I have seen this on some critics’ 2005 top ten lists. Goofy and slow, but it has its moments.