The Chumscrubber (2005)

A darkly satiric story about life crumbling in the midst of a seemingly idyllic suburbia.

Director:

Arie Posin

Writers:

Arie Posin (story), Zac Stanford (screenplay)

Stars:

Jamie Bell, Allison Janney, Rory Culkin

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jamie Bell	...	Dean
Camilla Belle	...	Crystal
Justin Chatwin	...	Billy
Glenn Close	...	Mrs. Johnson
Kathi Copeland	...	Parent #1 (as Kathy Copeland)
Rory Culkin	...	Charlie Stiffle
Thomas Curtis	...	Charlie Bratley
Tim DeKay	...	Mr. Peck
David Ellison	...	Student #1 (as David Ellsion)
William Fichtner	...	Mr. Bill Stiffle
Ralph Fiennes	...	Mayor Michael Ebbs
Richard Gleason	...	Parent #2
Caroline Goodall	...	Mrs. Parker
John Heard	...	Officer Lou Bratley
Susan Hegarty	...	Aide to Mayor Ebbs

Storyline

The Chumscrubber starts out with Troy, a normal teenager who supplies "feel good" pills to everyone in his high school (this way he spreads happiness all around). But when his friend Dean pays him a visit, Dean discovers Troy has hanged himself in his bedroom during one of his mother's pool parties. After the death, three local teens: Billy, Lee, and Crystal, want what's left of Troy's stash of pills and they know that Dean is the only one who knows where they are. But when Dean refuses to get the pills, the three teens kidnap Dean's little brother, until they realize they've kidnapped the wrong kid.

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Plot Keywords:

haldol | window blinds | pills | death | chumscrubber | 

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Taglines:

Meet Generation Rx

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, violent content, drug material and some sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Directorial debut of Arie Posin.

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Goofs

Before Dean unlocks the door to Troy's apartment, there's a shot where you see Dean from inside Troy's apartment. In that shot, you can see the gap between the door and the door frame that the deadbolt is not locked. You can also see the thumbscrew on the door knob is in the typical unlocked position. But Troy gets a hidden key to unlock a door that's not locked.

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Quotes

Crystal Falls: Is it true that you found Troy?
Dean Stiffle: Why?
Crystal Falls: I was... just wondering.
Dean Stiffle: Just wondering - so you want me to tell you a bunch of gory details, is that it?
Crystal Falls: [Crystal begins to walk away] It's impossible trying to talk to you.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movies with Terrible Titles (2015)

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Soundtracks

Run
Performed by Snow Patrol
Written by Iain Archer, Nathan Connolly, Gary Lightbody, Mark McClelland and Johnny Quinn
Courtesy of Polydor Ltd. (UK)
Under License from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

What's the Alternative?

Having grown up in a 1960's suburb outside of Philadelphia with it's same-same split-levels and colonials, I can grasp the loneliness angle of a teen-angst film. Not as successful or lighthearted as Thumbsucker or honered as the silly and "way" overrated American Beauty, The Chumscrubber has charm. Teens are lonely. They do tend to rebel like James Dean. Their parents work hard and acquire materialistic items such as homes, patio pools, and furniture, a stage of their life that emphasizes materialism and social status. Suburbanites play hard and work hard, but teenager offspring are neither adults nor children. The Chumscrubber world wheels in turn, humor and darkness.

Jamie Bell somehow subdues his Scottish accent and plays the American teen with solemn seriousness. Maybe that's a fault in his portrayal, but after all, there is not much fun in popping pills and having a best friend hang himself. The parents, the kids, they seem to be whirling in separate orbits, coming close as the moon is large in a winter sky, but then the luminous returns to a distant trajectory. They talk to each other, or rather past each other. The humorous scenes where the teens tell parents they are kidnapping a little boy so they can buy drugs compel laughs because the parents think the kids are attempting precocious satire. The mother planning a wedding is oblivious. She is the prototype suburban striver. Where's your kid? Oh, he's in his room, er.. out with friends on a school project. "It's for school" is teen code for "perfectly innocent." That's a laugh.

In the end, the world of white, middle to upper-class citizen is almost too easy to satire, but what's the alternative, a Stalinist State? Think about it.

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 October 2006 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Untitled Arie Posin Project

Filming Locations:

Calabasas, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,548, 7 August 2005

Gross USA:

$52,597

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$351,401

Company Credits

Production Co:

El Camino Pictures, Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & Co. KG II, Go Fish Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1