The Chumscrubber
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Chumscrubber | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Arie Posin |
| Produced by | Lawrence Bender, Bonnie Curtis |
| Written by | Arie Posin Zac Stanford |
| Starring | Glenn Close Ralph Fiennes Caroline Goodall Lauren Holly Allison Janney Carrie-Anne Moss Rita Wilson Jamie Bell Camilla Belle Justin Chatwin Rory Culkin Thomas Curtis Lou Taylor Pucci |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Distributed by | Go Fish Pictures (US) |
| Release date(s) | 26 August 2005 |
| Running time | 108 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $ 6,800,000 (est.) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Chumscrubber is a 2005 dark comedy film directed by Arie Posin and written by Posin and Zac Stanford. It stars Glenn Close, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Lauren Holly, Allison Janney, Carrie-Anne Moss, Rita Wilson, Jamie Bell, Camilla Belle, Justin Chatwin, Rory Culkin, Thomas Curtis, and Lou Taylor Pucci. The film focuses on the lack of communication between teenagers and their parents, and the prevalence of prescription drugs in American society. The title of the film refers to a popular video game omnipresent in the teenagers' lives, in which a post-apocalyptic hero carries his severed head in his hand as he fights the forces of evil.
Winner Moscow Film Festival: Audience Award for best film in Main Competition, following exit poll results.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Tagline: Meet Generation Rx
Jamie Bell stars as Dean Stifle, a teenager whose father (Fichtner) is a self-help "Doctor Feelgood" guru and whose mother (Janney) is a proponent of a new lifestyle involving vitamins. Dean's best friend, Troy, the local high school drug dealer, commits suicide, owing Billy (Chatwin) a large amount of pills. Billy decides that Dean, who lives next door to Troy's mother (Close), is the best person to get the pills from wherever Troy hid them, so he decides to kidnap Dean's younger brother (Culkin), Charlie, to force him to get them for him. Instead, he kidnaps the wrong Charlie—the son of a local policeman (Heard) and the town's mayor's (Fiennes) fiancée (Wilson).
This movie is a criticism of modern suburban life in America and its effect on the family structure. Strong emphasis is placed on social alienation and artificial happiness, usually achieved through medication. Each character is alone in his world and strains to present an "everything is alright" front through intimidation, passive-aggressive behaviour, or, in most cases, being oblivious to anyone's world but their own.
This movie combines the classical dramatic traditions of tragedy and comedy, ending with both a funeral and a wedding. Everyone's callousness towards each event (wedding guests are there for social or business reasons, not to celebrate the joy of the union, and funeral goers are not mourning but are instead whipped into a drug-induced frenzy) invites the viewer to reevaluate the notion of tragedy and comedy.
[edit] Cast
- Jamie Bell - Dean
- Camilla Belle - Crystal
- Justin Chatwin - Billy
- Glenn Close - Carrie Johnson
- Rory Culkin - Charlie Stiffle
- Thomas Curtis - Charlie Bratley
- William Fichtner - Mr. Bill Stiffle
- Ralph Fiennes - Mayor Michael Ebbs
- John Heard - Officer Lou Bratley
- Lauren Holly - Boutique Owner
- Jason Isaacs - Mr. Parker
- Caroline Goodall - Mrs. Parker
- Allison Janney - Allie Stiffle
- Josh Janowicz - Troy (as Joshua Janowicz)
- Carrie-Anne Moss - Jerri Falls
- Lou Taylor Pucci – Lee
- Rita Wilson - Terri Bratley
[edit] Trivia
- It was filmed on location in Los Angeles, California with special effects shot in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
- The "tuba" that Charlie Bratley (Thomas Curtis) plays is not a tuba at all but a euphonium.
[edit] External links
