Movie Review: Thumbsucker

10/27/05 - Vince Vaughn, Keanu Reeves, Benjamin Bratt and Vincent D'Onofrio all grace the screen of the comedic drama Thumbsucker, documenting the journey of 17-year-old Justin Cobb who can't seem to stop sucking his thumb.Whenever he feels nervous, we catch him running to the school bathroom tapping his scuffed Converses or off to his room to furtively steal some comforting thumb-sucking action. Slowly his habit becomes a bigger problem as his demanding father does what all demanding fathers do, demanding that he stop.

Justin's new-age dentist Perry Lyman (Reeves) offers a solution after noticing Justin's teeth reverting to their pre-braces stage. He hypnotizes him. In his hypnotized state he tells Justin to "imagine you're deep in the forest. Call on your power animal."

Justin, envisioning a deer reminiscent of Bambi, answers, "Come here."

Lyman retorts, "In your mind. This encounter ends detrimentally as Justin cannot summon his "power animal," and Lyman made his thumb subconsciously taste disgusting. So Justin seems distraught, breaks some things, freaks out in class and is soon diagnosed with ADHD and given Ritalin. Suddenly he is intelligent, and put-together, and everything is going lovely.

However, that would be the end of the movie, so the plot twists and he throws out his Ritalin after a debate opponent compared it to cocaine. Thus begins his downward spiral. Throughout the movie characters offer their tiny input, creating a neat and tidy world revolving around Justin.

Reeves does a decent job as his character, but often slips into his Matrix persona. This may have been the quirky intent, or he could only be able to play one character. Either way he plays it well.

The dashing Vaughn does an amazing job as Mr. Geary, the debate coach. Mixing his drive for the debate team to win and his interest in the students, he seems to be a well-rounded character. He displays some possible love-interests in Justin, but the movie never delves much deeper than surface gestures.

The movie itself leaves the audience in limbo, oftentimes not knowing if it's meant to be funny or serious, towing the line between a typical thought-provoking independent film and something more marketable.

The scenes are often slow moving, but the music gets you. The entire soundtrack consists of the Polyphonic Spree and Elliott Smith, which adds the hint of a drama where oftentimes the scene could go either way (comedy or drama).

While the movie is a typical young, white, Middle-class coming of age story, it stands out. Not only does the cinematography (which can be compared to that of Napolean Dynamite) and the music add elements of compassion and interest, but the many scenes that seem a little off makes Thumbsucker interesting.

In one scene Justin's parents are in the bedroom, warming up for whatever middle-aged married people do (not something I like to envision), when suddenly the wife stops and asks her husband if he thinks Justin has had sex yet. While the scene in itself would leave an unsettled feeling, her question makes you wonder about her mother-son relationship.

In another scene Justin is blindfolded because a girl wants to play a game with him. She then instructs him to touch but not look. Ultimately she breaks his teenage heart and moves on to getting high with other less complex boys. The characters aren't outlandish, just weird. The entire time I could only think this is what Napolean Dynamite would be like with a better looking cast, and a better plot.

The characters are all a little weird, each displaying some tiny quirk which may break open at any moment to display the true depth of the problems, and that's the point. Thumbsucker, which is based on the Walter Kim novel of the same name, is littered with pauses in dialogue, sighs and facial gestures that make up a real person's life. Rather than a masterpiece of script, it offers a look into subtlety of character, and a lesson that perfection isn't the aim. Eventually Justin works through it, finding himself in the process and ultimately teaching the audience a lesson in life.

While ending with the modern American gush of love and understanding and ultimately becoming a feel good movie, wrapping up everyone's problems into a neat and tidy bow, Thumbsucker does venture outside the norm in its approach. So is it worth the ten dollars? Ummm, if you're in the mood for some really depressing scenes coupled with a few funny tongue-in-cheek lines, then sure! Otherwise, I'd say see the matinee or rent Napolean Dynamite. At least there's dancing in that.