The Chumscrubber
Starring: Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot), Camilla Belle (When a stranger calls), Lou Pucci (Thumbsucker), Ralph Fiennes (Red Dragon), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), Justin Chatwin, Glenn Close, Rory Culkin, William Fichtner.
The Chumscrubber is a dark comedic drama that follows the life of anti-hero Dean after his best friend Troy commits suicide. Suddenly the high school drug dealers are pushing Dean to get Troy’s stash for them. Wanting to be left to his alienation he refuses, so the drug dealers take matters further by kidnapping Dean’s younger brother. Should Dean care? No-one else does, besides — the dealers got the wrong kid.
This film contains a fantastic cast, and by that I mean a cast who can act, and who all appear to draw out of their respective stereotyped roles for this, especially Ralph Fiennes as the weird mayor, and Carrie Anne-Moss as the single ‘MILF’ parent in a world of teens.
Chumscrubber has a great storyline that is gripping, dramatic and darkly comic. It successfully carries the themes of isolation and depression unseen within teen culture, by using realistic non- cliché characters; that face a world pressured by suicide, prescription drugs and a choking suburbia lifestyle. The ‘Chumscrubber’ itself can possibly be interpreted as a warped metaphoric message. That even in an upper class, happy-pill, suburbia; there still lurks deep within its angsty pop-culture the ever-present Chumscrubber: a headless zombie in a post-nuclear apocalypse, doing what he needs to do to survive in a world of freaks and subhuman creatures… I hope we can all relate to that.
Some have likened this film to Donnie Darko combined with Desperate Housewives, which is a description that I must admit, defines the world of the kids and parents in this film quite accurately. If you enjoy either or both of these, then you will probably enjoy this hilarious film. Even if you don’t, you will find something truly unique, weird and entertaining when you see this film.
8/10.
Michael Hill
