The Chumscrubber (2005)
Average Rating: 4.9/10
Reviews Counted: 58
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 38
This derivative poke at suburbia falls short of delivering a scathing indictment of upper middle-class disconnect.
Average Rating: 5.1/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 5
This derivative poke at suburbia falls short of delivering a scathing indictment of upper middle-class disconnect.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 39,274
My Rating
Movie Info
The death of a troubled teen throws a suburban neighborhood into chaos in this darkly satirical comedy. Dean (Jamie Bell) is a disaffected teenager living in a California suburb that's beautiful on the surface but populated by families who live emotionally vacant lives, with the parents often too wrapped up in their own problems to pay attention to their children. One day, Dean discovers his best (and only) friend, Troy (Josh Janowicz), has killed himself. While Troy's mother (Glenn Close)
Cast
-
Jamie Bell
Dean Stiffle -
Camilla Belle
Crystal Falls -
Justin Chatwin
Billy -
Glenn Close
Mrs. Johnson -
Rory Culkin
Charlie Stiffle -
Thomas Curtis
Charlie Bratley -
Tim DeKay
Mr. Peck -
William Fichtner
Dr. Bill Stiffle -
Ralph Fiennes
Michael Ebbs -
Richard Gleason
Parent -
Caroline Goodall
Mrs. Parker -
John Heard
Officer Lou Bratley -
Lauren Holly
Boutique Owner -
Jason Isaacs
Mr. Parker -
Allison Janney
Mrs. Stiffle -
Josh Janowicz
Troy -
Carrie-Anne Moss
Jerri Falls -
Lou Taylor Pucci
Lee -
Rita Wilson
Bratley Terri -
-
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (63) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (38) | DVD (13)
Much like its characters: decorative, entertaining and emotionally empty.
Top CriticAn impassioned and occasionally mesmerizing first effort that's at once messier, more complex and more ambitious than many recent suburban dystopias.
An appallingly clumsy and stupid take on drugs, kidnapping and suicide in suburbia.
There are some very good performances and some strong writing.
It's neither funny nor sad, and it's filled with cheats, phony come-ons and red herrings.
Exploring suburban malaise is nothing new ... but The Chumscrubber puts a fresh coat on the arguments.
The entire strange magical realism and stinging emotional bite of Chumscrubber's burb wasteland are as captivating and disturbing as can be.
It's a surreal, offbeat comedy where the kidnappers are hopelessly inept while Bell feels hopelessly at sea.
Despite the top-drawer cast assembled for his debut feature, the director Arie Posin's account of emotional dislocation in the 'burbs is stymied by a fatally uneven tone and a growing suspicion that we've been down this road many, many times before.
A strong cast promises great things, but The Chumscrubber loses itself on the way to its indie aspirations.
Sadly, despite Bell's eye-catching performance and Glenn Close's disturbing Stepford Wife portrayal, I found this messy movie as self-absorbed as most of its characters.
Ten years ago, The Chumscrubber might have seemed groundbreaking. Today, it's not just unoriginal but as dull and nondescript as a Barratt home.
It is witty and subversive, with flashes of magical realism and apocalyptic CG that both provokes and unnerves.
A tragic waste of acting talent, with nothing new to say. Can we please now politely close the door on middle-class repression before we get really angry?
Even though it feels derivative, this blackly comical suburban drama is loaded with terrific details. And it features yet another excellent performance from Jamie Bell.
Posin aims for are out of his reach and he's left to scrabble desperately for a story to plug in the gaps.
Such is the sordid state of affairs in that emerging genre that might be termed suburban noir, as it inches ever closer to horror and the supernatural.
An agonizingly bad movie.
The complex screenplay is admirable for its plot structure, its dark humour and its storytelling tricks, but the film ends up playing like a well developed project about teen-parent alienation, while itself alienating many of us in the audience.
Audience Reviews for The Chumscrubber
Super Reviewer
I was reminded of Alpha Dog when the victim of a drug-related kidnapping rather enjoys the experience compared to the stifled restrictions of suburbia, but there is more going on here, and nothing about the drug-dealing lifestyle is glorified. The film's message, condemning the self-absorbed nature of the suburban parents and seeing the kids growing up too fast, encountering issues way beyond their age group, is entirely clear. However, the film's tone is uneven. Often I thought that there were two conflicting styles at play: the parents were in a scathing satire, with Mrs. Johnson's repeated "I in no way blame you for Troy's death" and Michael's vacant-eyed dalliances, and the kids were in a teen drama in the vein of Havoc. This juxtaposition works sometimes, but most of the time I was left wondering if these styles would ever converge; they do eventually, but it's too late and too little.
Overall, I'm sympathetic to the film's argument, and I think much of it is well-done, but there
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for The Chumscrubber yet.
Latest News on The Chumscrubber
February 9, 2011:
Diane Keaton and Ed Harris Share The Look of LoveDiane Keaton and Ed Harris will co-star in Arie Posin's "The Look of Love," about a widow who...
January 8, 2009:
RT Interview: Jamie Bell talks Defiance and DanceJamie Bell tap-danced his way into the national consciousness with his breakthrough performance in...
June 3, 2005:
Camilla Belle Signs Up for "Stranger" DutyWhat's Hot On RT
The Last Stand, Side Effects
Trailer for new Coen Bros movie
Fast & Furious cars gallery
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- In Pictures: The Cars of Fast & Furious 0
- Digital Multiplex: Warm Bodies and Aftershock 4
- Discover the Best-Reviewed Films in Summer Movie Scorecard 2013 0
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: The Last Stand and Side Effects 16
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Star Trek Softer Than Expected at #1 85
- Weekly Ketchup: Will Smith to Star in Wild Bunch Remake? 39
- Critics Consensus: Star Trek Into Darkness is Certified Fresh 107
Top Headlines
-
Which Film Franchise Has Been the Best for Female Characters?
2
-
Damon Lindelof Talks Tomorrowland
0
-
10 Movies About Really Fast Cars
0
-
Poltergeist Remake Synopsis Hints at Plot Differences
6
-
Kristen Wiig Says Welcome to Me
1
-
David Fincher's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Gets Bumped
0
-
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance Remake in the Works
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
