The Chumscrubber (2005)

Average rating

(59%)

Starring:	Carrie-Anne Moss \| Ralph Fiennes \| John Heard \| Jamie Bell \| Rita Wilson \| Glenn Close \| William Fichtner
Director:	Arie Posin
Studio:	ICON HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time:	104 mins
Genres:	Drama
Languages:	English
Released:	September 17, 2007

The Chumscrubber is a dark comedy about the lives of people who live in upper-class suburbia. It all begins when Dean Stiffle (Jamie Bell) finds the body of his friend, Troy. He doesn't bother telling any of the adults because he knows they won't care. Everyone in town is too self consumed to worry about anything else than themselves. And everybody is on some form of drug just to get themselves through the day. After Troy's death, local drug dealers (Camilla Belle, Justin Chatwin, Lou Taylor Pucci) at the school run out of their stash. They threaten to kill Dean's brother unless he get Troy's stash for them, however it turns out that they kidnapped the wrong kid!

Screenshots

Rating of 2 stars out of 5
Time Out

Jamie Bell opts for another offbeat US indie, but this one feels strangely familiar. American Beauty, Donnie...

Highest rated reviews

28 out of 28 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 4 stars
Bizarre

MikeyboyPaines from from Fareham, 12th November, 2006

I went to see Cumscrubber without knowing anything about it and found the experience pretty bizarre. It's a weird combination of smalltown American soap opera, teen drama and David Lynchian weirdness. The nearest comparison I can make is Donnie Darko, but without the time travel / rabbit stuff. Fantastic cast, some excellent dialogue and some unpredictable twists make it an interesting and involving film. However, I found the Chumscrubber video game / tv show that the kids watch throughout the film to be a concept shoehorned into the plot with no relevance to the rest of the movie. Otherwise, recommended!

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21 out of 26 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 2 stars
My face is bleeding

mugwump from from Glossop, 1st October, 2007

This film does not know what it wants to be. It is a crappy teen relationship flick, a study of suburban anomie, a confused, quirky leftfield comedy and thumb in the mouth, sulky, pubescent whine but mostly its just unwatchable and clueless. The characters are caricatures and the 'hook' that the town are all on chems to get through the day was so outrageous it would have been more at home in Tim Burtons suburbia. The kidnapping story was well unconvincing, as were the Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters, Glenn Close was in wide eyed maniac Cruella de Vil mode as the maladjusted bereaved mother. I turned it off after an hour. The cinematography was nice.

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Most recent reviews

*** May contain spoilers ***

Rated 2 stars
Watch Thumbsucker instead...

A Customer from London, 14th May, 2009

Amazing cast. Was very excited by the trailer for this (Alison Janney anyone?)....soooo disapointing. It really is a wannabe Thumbsucker. Unfortunately there isa real trend of these films at the moment, which I dont think helps. There is nothing fresh here. Its all very heavy handed - the parents are too busy to notice the child is missing for the whole film because they are all caught up in their lives - the psychiatrist father gives drugs to his son because he is too caught up in his own life - the policeman is too caught.....you get it. So did I , after about 20 minutes. Thats not to say it is a bad film, or badly played. If you have never seen a film like this I am sure it will make some impact. I have to admit there was a scene that made me cry. Billy Elliot is very good. I didnt like Brick much at all. This film is a cross between Brick and (far superior)Thumbsucker with a little touch of (far superior) Running with Scissors and (far superior) Heathers. A real waste of obvious effort, and good cast.

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