Thumbsucker

2005
R
1h 36m

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

22K

YOUR RATING

Home Video Trailer from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Play trailer2:16

8 Videos

99+ Photos

Comedy Drama

Justin throws himself and everyone around him into chaos when he attempts to break free from his addiction to his thumb.Justin throws himself and everyone around him into chaos when he attempts to break free from his addiction to his thumb.Justin throws himself and everyone around him into chaos when he attempts to break free from his addiction to his thumb.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

22K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 5 wins & 5 nominations

Trivia
Co-Writer and Director Mike Mills saw over one hundred actors for the role of Justin.

Goofs
It is stated that Ritalin and cocaine have only three molecules different. Both are actually single molecules. Although similar in shape, there are several atoms difference.

Quotes
[Justin see's Dr. Perry for the last time in his new office before leaving off to college]
Justin Cobb: What happened?
Dr. Perry Lyman: What do you mean?
Justin Cobb: This place. It looks a little depressing.
Dr. Perry Lyman: I don't know, I... I guess I stopped trying to be anything. I accepted myself and all my human disorder. You might wanna do the same. Do you remember when you were like, 13 or something, you were... You were always doing an impression of a newsman.
Justin Cobb: [chuckles] I did?
Dr. Perry Lyman: You were quite good.
Justin Cobb: Sorry.
Dr. Perry Lyman: If that's what you want to do, New York is the perfect place for you. Make the contacts, knock on doors.
[Dr. Perry lights a cigarette]
Dr. Perry Lyman: Get the right haircut, take voice lessons. Might work. Then again. You'll have to deal with a lot of fear.
Justin Cobb: I just came here for a checkup.
Dr. Perry Lyman: Really? Justin, I'm sorry if I contributed to any feelings of shame you may have about your thumb. I've been reading up on it. Medically, psychologically, there's nothing really wrong with thumb sucking.
Justin Cobb: I don't think I can agree with that.
Dr. Perry Lyman: No, really. Look. Justin... there was nothing wrong with you.
Justin Cobb: It felt like everything was wrong with me.
Dr. Perry Lyman: That's 'cause we all wanna be problemless. To fix ourselves. We look for some magic solution to make us all better, but none of us really know what we're doing. And why is that so bad? That's all we humans can do. Guess. Try. Hope. But, Justin, just pray you don't fool yourself into thinking you've got the answer. Because that's bullshit. The trick is living without an answer. I think.
[both chuckle and laugh]
Dr. Perry Lyman: [Dr. Perry chuckles and lights another cigarette] I think.

Crazy credits
The end credits give special thanks for the support of this movie by many famous directors: Sofia and Roman Coppola, David Fincher, Spike Jonze and Ang Lee.

Connections
Featured in 2006 Independent Spirit Awards (2006)

Soundtracks
Spirit of Reiki
Written by Shastro
Performed by Shastro and Nadama
Courtesy of Malimba Records

User reviews100

Review

Featured review

7/10

Quirky and worth seeking out.

Mike Mills may not be the most prolific of filmmakers, (he's only made three feature films in the last 10 years), but he's certainly one of the most idiosyncratic. If "Thumbsucker", his debut feature, feels like the kind of small, quirky picture that sometimes gives independent movies a bad name it might simply be because it deals with aspects of growing up that even small, independent movies tend to overlook.

Our teenage hero, (an excellent Lou Taylor Pucci), has issues that tend to stem from his inability to stop sucking his thumb but that's only the tip of the iceberg. This is essentially a film about psychoses but it lacks the hysteria we tend to associate with American films on that subject. Even its attitude to teenagers and teenage sexuality is distinctly European. Good performances, too, from Tilda Swinton and Vincent D'Onofrio as Pucci's parents, (only to be expected), but also from Vince Vaughan, never better as Pucci's teacher though Keanu Reeves, woefully miscast as a hippy dentist, is his usual wooden self. Worth seeking out.