THUMBSUCKER directed by Mike Mills (2005).
Is this a thumb I see before me?
Having thoroughly enjoyed the movie Beginners, I wanted to see Mike Mills’ debut for my own compare and contrast motives.
The thumb sucker of the title is a bright but painfully shy teenager named Justin Cobb (Lou Taylor Pucci). After a series of mishaps, the school authorities diagnose him as suffering from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Justin starts taking the drug Ritalin.
Under this stimulation/medication he is able to read Moby Dick straight through and become a prize-winning member of the school’s debating class. The problem is that this also turns him into a precocious smart-ass so that a teacher who starts by being enthusiastic and supportive and ends by concluding “In my professional opinion you’ve become a monster”.
His mom and dad (played by Tilda Swinton & VincentD’Onofrio) aren’t much help as they are still busy working out how to be effective grown-ups. Justin complains that they never tell him how to deal with things and to win a place at New York University, he gets the sympathy of the selection board by telling them that his parents are both mentally ill.
Mills’ script presents a challenging role for Pucci who is more convincing as a mixed-up young boy than as a troubled young adult.
Thumbsucker is a likeable Indie movie with the feel of early Gus Van Sant due to the naturalistic Oregon setting, the Elliot Smith songs on the soundtrack and the casting of Keanu Reeves (as a highly improbable dentist).
It’s as much a film about the difficulties of parenting as it is about the struggles of adolescence. “It’s easier when he’s fucking up” says his father at one point when confronted by the new-found confidence of his son.
The movie doesn’t contain any glib messages of how to be a winner but offers some honest all-ages tips on learning how to cope.
