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Directed by: Arie Posin Starring: Jamie Bell, Glen Close, Rita WIlson, Ralphn Fiennes I absolutely hated this movie. You'd think that a movie with a name this ludicrous would at least be good enough to make up for it, but The Chumscrubber is one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time. The over the top tale about kids abusing prescription drugs could have been a gritty hard hitting flick, but it plays out like corny never-aired ABC After School Special. Jamie Bell plays Dean Stiffle, an emotionally disconnected boy who discovers his best friend hanging by the neck and doesn't tell anyone about it. His father ends up giving him drugs to deal with his depression. Some laughably skinny bullies from his high school want him to get some pills out of his dead friend's room, so they kidnap his brother to force him into complying, but it's really not his brother because they grab the wrong kid, and lots of people play a videogame called The Chumscrubber that has a guy who carries his head around, and somehow that's supposed to be ironic or symbolize something that I'm apparently too dumb to connect together. The cast is outstanding with Glen Close, Rita Wilson, Ralph Fiennes, Allison Janney, Carrie-Ann Moss, and John Heard, but never has such a brilliant bunch of actors been wasted on such garbage. The film's writer and director, Arie Posin, tries to hammer home the fact that drugs are bad by giving every single character a crazy addiction or affliction, making the film a giant freakshow of miserable people. Of course there's nothing intriguing or meaningful about anything they say or do. The whole thing plays like some preachy film project from a mother who's kid died from an overdose. I shook my head and groaned during most of the movie that meandered all over the place and seemed to have a tough time deciding whether you wanted to feel sorry, or just laugh at all the screwed up characters. It's like a giant potluck of crappy food in which you're forced to eat seconds. The other problem is that the film can't seem to decide if it should be serious or funny. It doesn't work as a hardcore reality film, so it pulls off goofy scenes to lighten the mood that make the whole film just seem silly. Near the film's end, there's a rare effective moment when someone's getting injured and tortured. It was fairly gripping and uncomfortable to watch, but the film segues to a humorously violent scene that seemed like it was ripped from a Monty Python film that had much of the audience laughing. The Chumscrubber is a loathsome empty movie that ends up being a headshakingly bad movie going experience. The film's producer, Lawrence Bender, was standing behind me during a particularly cheezy monologue at the film's end and was telling someone, "Man...this sure is a powerful scene!" I wish I could find some of the crazy pills that would let me see this film in that way. RATING: 0.5 PROS: none CONS: the script, direction, and chracters are awful ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0406650/ EDIT: Mods, please change title to The Chumscrubber...thanks!
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Aug 5, 2005 15:03
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I just got home from seeing this movie, and I still can't quite believe what I just experienced. It's unquestionably the worst thing that I've seen in several years, and that's probably being generous. I honestly can't imagine that this director (or the writers) have any career in front of them after this one. Among the many many awful things about this movie, the whole "Chumscrubber" video game thing itself was so beyond disbelief that I wanted to set fire to the film up in the projection booth. I can only guess that it was some 55 year-old screenwriter's idea of the edgy media that teenagers might be into. This movie wanted to be the next American Beauty, and the numerous parallels and ripoffs were nauseating. There were so many horrid and implausible characters and situations in this movie that I can't begin to unravel it all. God I hope lots of goons go see it so I can read their opinions here. 0.0/5 I have 20/20 vision, it's a gift, I'm so awesome. OH GOD MY EYE, MY PERFECT EYE. BASK IN THE IRONY! Sack fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Aug 9, 2005 |
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Aug 6, 2005 04:27
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This movie was atrocious. See CD thread.
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Aug 13, 2005 08:00
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After seeing this movie I really didnt know how to feel about it at first. It has alot of decent drama and the acting is good for the most part. The only humor in the movie was a bunch of quick one-liners but all in all I still liked it. rating:3\5
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Aug 16, 2005 06:06
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Penn Jilette narrated it. That is really the only positive think I could see coming out of this movie, and even the narration was weak (and for a lack of a less hipster word) pretentious as hell. Just an all around dull, bizarre movie that really really wants to be that deep, thought-provoking indie drama that everyone will hear about and praise. This film isn't American Beauty. American Beauty had twisted but likable characters. It left you interested with whats going to happen next. Maybe the director should have ripped off those aspects, rather than quirkiness in shallow suburbia. 0/5
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Sep 30, 2008 02:45
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