Creating a lot of buzz at the Sundance Film Festival, but unfortunately having a very limited theatrical release, "Thumbsucker" recently came out on DVD for the mass audiences to see.
This independent film, based on the book by the same name, attempts to display the problems of American families in suburbia and a kids coming of age story. Although this plot seems a little contrived, "Thumbsucker" tackles many different issues on the subject that makes this film stand out from the rest.
The main character Justin (Lou Pucci) has a dilemma. The dilemma is that he is 17 years old and still sucks his thumb. He is a fairly shy kid and continues this addiction to his thumb as a coping mechanism to deal with the issues of adolescence.
His father (Vincent D'Onofrio) sees the act as extremely childish and looks down upon Justin for it. His mother (Tilda Swinton) on the other hand is too busy trying to win a contest for a date with her favorite TV star (Benjamin Bratt) to pay any attention to what is happening with her family. Justin finally realizes that his thumb sucking is causing problems with his family and his social life.
This is when Justin's unusual dentist (Keanu Reeves) decides to separate him from his thumb by using hypnosis. After not being able to comfort himself with his thumb he begins the mission of finding out just who he really is before reaching adulthood.
Through this journey the only people who aid him are not his parents but are in fact his debate club coach (Vince Vaughn) and his odd dentist who is also going through a stage of self-discovery. What Justin finds out is he is not the only person dealing with problems in his life. In actuality everyone is.
In true independent film fashion "Thumbsucker" relies on purely the story and acting in order to drive the film. It uses very soft camera shots to express the subtleties of these people's lives. The sets are also very bland therefore drawing all of the attention towards the characters.
For this film it works well because the story is the best part about it. These characters seem real and the viewer can easily relate to many if not all of them. Especially with that of Justin whose difficulties of growing up are probably quite similar to many of that age. The DVD itself is not very exciting having only a behind the scenes documentary, an interview with the author and director, and commentary by the director.
The behind the scenes documentary is fairly basic showing the different actors and their opinion on the movie, which is always that it is a great film and they loved doing it.
The interview between the author of the book Walter Kirn and director Mike Mills fortunately is extremely interesting. Here the two break down the story from the book and film and analyze all of its major themes and characters. Since the story in "Thumbsucker" is very deep and engaging it is intriguing to examine how the book translated into the film.
"Thumbsucker" is a film that has a little bit of everything from humor, to sadness, to joy. These are all of the elements that make a great dramatic film with a pertinent theme that everyone has their own problems and no one is truly alone in their struggles.
This independent film, based on the book by the same name, attempts to display the problems of American families in suburbia and a kids coming of age story. Although this plot seems a little contrived, "Thumbsucker" tackles many different issues on the subject that makes this film stand out from the rest.
The main character Justin (Lou Pucci) has a dilemma. The dilemma is that he is 17 years old and still sucks his thumb. He is a fairly shy kid and continues this addiction to his thumb as a coping mechanism to deal with the issues of adolescence.
His father (Vincent D'Onofrio) sees the act as extremely childish and looks down upon Justin for it. His mother (Tilda Swinton) on the other hand is too busy trying to win a contest for a date with her favorite TV star (Benjamin Bratt) to pay any attention to what is happening with her family. Justin finally realizes that his thumb sucking is causing problems with his family and his social life.
This is when Justin's unusual dentist (Keanu Reeves) decides to separate him from his thumb by using hypnosis. After not being able to comfort himself with his thumb he begins the mission of finding out just who he really is before reaching adulthood.
Through this journey the only people who aid him are not his parents but are in fact his debate club coach (Vince Vaughn) and his odd dentist who is also going through a stage of self-discovery. What Justin finds out is he is not the only person dealing with problems in his life. In actuality everyone is.
In true independent film fashion "Thumbsucker" relies on purely the story and acting in order to drive the film. It uses very soft camera shots to express the subtleties of these people's lives. The sets are also very bland therefore drawing all of the attention towards the characters.
For this film it works well because the story is the best part about it. These characters seem real and the viewer can easily relate to many if not all of them. Especially with that of Justin whose difficulties of growing up are probably quite similar to many of that age. The DVD itself is not very exciting having only a behind the scenes documentary, an interview with the author and director, and commentary by the director.
The behind the scenes documentary is fairly basic showing the different actors and their opinion on the movie, which is always that it is a great film and they loved doing it.
The interview between the author of the book Walter Kirn and director Mike Mills fortunately is extremely interesting. Here the two break down the story from the book and film and analyze all of its major themes and characters. Since the story in "Thumbsucker" is very deep and engaging it is intriguing to examine how the book translated into the film.
"Thumbsucker" is a film that has a little bit of everything from humor, to sadness, to joy. These are all of the elements that make a great dramatic film with a pertinent theme that everyone has their own problems and no one is truly alone in their struggles.