Review of Thumbsucker (2005) by Dan B — 08 Sep 2007

I loved this movie for a few reasons. Lou Pucci purveys the confusion of teenage self identity SO goddamn perfectly. I seriously loved his character and thought it was a completely honest performance. Also, I love the whole main idea of the movie and how they approach it. The 'we're all addicted to something' line rings pretty true these days. I really loved how honestly and uniquely this movie treated it's subject matter; Justin is diagnosed with ADHD, by his unquestionably ignorant Guidance Counselor and seems excited to take his medication because he wants to change. It's an approach that deviates from the "pills are being pushed onto kids" idea that you usually see accompanying similar movies, and it's fucking refreshing. Instead of seeing Justin as the victim of pill-pushing parents or over-prescribing physicians, he's shown as a person who is convinced something is wrong with him and that's something he wants to change. In other words, society tells him that the way he's acting is wrong, and he takes that burden to heart.

I kind of feel like the quirkiness of this film is overplayed (the cover art, etc), but I wouldn't lump this one in the "teen indie" movie section. It's too real, too honest, and doesn't play the off-beat card for the hell of it (which I feel some movies like Me, You, and Everyone We know seem to do at times).

Freaking great movie.