You would think that Thumbsucker would be a movie that I would love. It has an interesting story that is full of eccentric characters, the acting is great, the cinematography is engaging, yet I’m trying really hard to think what is keeping me from completely liking Thumbsucker.
Lou Pucci does a great job playing Justin, a seventeen year-old with an addiction to his thumb. When his spiritual guru/orthodontist (Keanu Reaves) helps him to rid himself of his habit, Justin finds himself searching for other things to take its place, starting with his anti-ADD perscription. Pucci looks as though his skin itself makes him uncomfortable sometimes you find yourself shifting in your seat in sympathy. Vincent D’Onofrio and Tilda Swindon play Justin’s ineffectual, awkward parents. D’Onofrio’s character, Mike, is so annoyed by his son’s habit, he writes his own initials on Justin’s thumb – a constant reminder of his disappointment.
Mike Mill’s direction is good. The characters in the movie are surrounded on all sides by mirrors constantly reminding them of how others see them and most of the characters seem to be trying to reconcile themselves with their own reflection.
All the characters seem to have walls built up around themselves that keep them from connecting with anyone else and this might be the reason I found myself disconnected from the movie. They don’t really let anyone in, including the audience. You could see and hear Justin’s frustration as he repeatedly fails, but his character doesn’t let you in so you can feel it. In the end, I was the one who was frustrated.
Rated: R for language teen sexuality and drug use and a disturbing scene involving Benjamin Bratt.
[rating:3]