I barely heard of The Chumscrubber about two weeks ago when the trailer was released online. I later learned that the director, Arie Posin, and producer, Bonnie Curtis, were doing a nine city tour to promote the film through special screenings and my hometown of Tempe AZ happened to be on their list. Of course I was invited as I have the proper press credentials. I had the best night at the movies in quite a while since this summer has been filled with poor films.
Plot: There is quite a bit to the plot of this movie and I never give away too much so that you can enjoy the movie. Dean Stiffle discovers the body of his best friend, Troy, hanging in his bedroom. The death of Troy - the school's leading drug dealer - throws the whole community's carefully maintained psychotherapeutic balance into disarray.
Going from point of view to point of view, this film uses a carefully balanced mixture of drama and black comedy to entertain all audiences about 14+ years of age- despite the R rating. The director told me that the film was really a way to show what it feels like to be a teenager and I totally agree with that. The film mainly focused around the teenage characters and how they worked with the problems around them and also how they channeled their emotions. It also did the same for the adults in the movie who were not in such a jam as the teens were but they definitely had their own problems to deal with; especially a mom who was trying to cope with the death of her son.
To handle these amazing characters, the director got legends in the business. Carrie-Anne Moss, Allison Janney, Ralph Fiennes and Glenn Close are just a few big names. Not to mention the younger actors who played the troubled teens. British Jamie Bell played Dean, the lead character in the film. Jamie has also previously starred in the critically acclaimed BILLY ELLIOT. When talking to the director about choosing Jamie for the character he said 'We didn't go out looking for a British person for the role. We just went out there and found the best person to play the role. That's when we found Jamie.' Justin Chatwin, one of the greatest, new and young actors of today also stared in the film next to Jamie's lead role. He played Billy, the character the director described to me as 'The popular kid in school who has the girl and everything but he really isn't a good guy.' He also told me why he chose Justin to play the character; 'We did this film way before War of The Worlds so I wanted to get Justin because he is like Tom Cruise before he did Top Gun. Justin was great for the role and really knew how to be the popular guy who really isn't a nice guy and Justin is just so playful that it worked out.' Also the other great young actors include Camilla Belle and Lou Taylor Pucci who won the Best Actor award at the Sundance & Berlin Film Festivals this year.
It's hard to believe that the film was also produced on, the director's quote, ' million.' In addition 'the actors in the film were all paid not what they are worth and in some cases not even anything.' The whole production took place 'in LA which is one of the most expensive places to film in the world.' As a first time director, Arie did quite well not only with the budget but also with the film in its entirety. The originality is overwhelming and unique and no matter every time you see it you will see it much differently. And depending on your age group you will see such a different point of view of the film of anyone else and I have no doubt that you will like it if not love it! It is a brilliant film that deserves to been seen by all kinds of audiences.
The content of the film is sometimes slightly fowl but it is appropriate to groups from 14 to infinity years old. For the people 14-17 I think that parents must consider if they would take their children to an R rated film. The most reason why its R is that there is some profanity, a small scene of a teen shown hanging by a rope and there are a lot of references to drugs as stuff and stash being sold in the school. Because of this content the film is not very appropriate for anyone younger than 14 not just because of those reason but also that fact that the film deals with a lot of issues that younglings will not understand but older audiences will find very meaningful. If you are a parent and you are taking a younger person then you might want to discuss the film with them afterwards.
I do think that all people should go see this movie and skip others in current release. The film is only opening in nine cities but if people see it then the studio will open it wider. I will definitely go see it again and I think you should too! You will be refreshed, emotionally touched and maybe even have a new perspective of everyday life. There is so much to this film and you get something more and different out of it with every viewing.
