 | |
List Price: $19.99 | | Label: Dreamworks Video
Salesrank: 14684
Released: January 10, 2006 |
| Our Price: $4.05 |
| Used Price: $2.38 |
|
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
The Chumscrubber is a darkly satiric story about life crumbling in the midst of a seemingly idyllic suburbia.
The Chumscrubber Reviews:
Dark, absurdist satire 
2009-11-05 - This quirky, dark, send-up of a dysfunctional surburban American neighborhood has been unfavorably compared to "Donnie Darko" and to "American Beauty." It's also been criticized for being too realistic on the one hand, and not realistic enough on the other. LOL (How is a director to win? :-) But it's actually a somewhat different idea; the best way to describe this movie is as if someone transferred the bizarre and nihilistic mid-20th century European theater of the absurd to new-millenium America. Donnie Darko had more sci-fi elements and one of the major themes of the movie--the existence of random evil and forces beyond our control in the world and what, if anything, can be done about it--isn't really an issue here.
Whatever interpretation you happen to prefer, though, there's no doubt that all is not well beneath the highly polished surface of this otherwise prosperous, toney new neighborhood. The big, expensive homes and the trophy wives all signal that these people are the socio-economic winners in our society, but they are spectacular failures as people in every other sense.
Most of the characters (whether the kids or the adults) seem to go thru life in a drug-induced haze, and the kids are running wild since there is no adult supervision. The adults are too busy with their sometimes delusional and usually narcissistic pursuits to bother with the kids, who basically concoct one wild escapade after another, from tracking down the local teenage drug dealer's stash when he dies to kidnapping one of the younger kids basically for sport. The whole story devolves into an orgy of narcissistic and self-indulgent excess by the end of the movie as each character spirals downward into his own personal 21st century, suburban hell.
It's a little too pat, weird, and wacked out a movie to completely succeed as a vicious satire of contemporary America, but it is entertaining to watch, and the score is one of the most eerily and hauntingly beautiful I've ever heard, creating exactly the right mood and atmosphere throughout the film. The best way I can think to describe the music is a combination of sinister premonition and playfulness or dark humor, which suits the movie perfectly. It's a little hard to describe but you'll see what I mean when you hear it. I give it a solid four stars. I note a lot of people here didn't like it though, but would just say that if it's not your sort of movie, you'll know within 15 minutes of the opening scene if it's for you and you can turn it off at that point if it doesn't appeal to you.
Sucker punch 
2009-10-23 - There are so many things wrong with this movie that it's hard to know where to begin. First off, it has nothing to do with fishing other than there's a mayor who wants to run with the dolphins like John C. Lilly -- that or he just has a wet sock fetish, which doesn't happen often in fishing because most fishermen don't wear socks or even shoes (maybe they're just in denial).
Secondly, the whole thing is basically just a trailer for a video game where some superhero zombie slays bad-guy zombies while wearing Lite-Brite sneakers and carrying his head -- it somehow got cut off after he hung himself, which he did because he had poor taste in music. For some reason, at least according to Arie Posin (who went on from "Chumscrubber" to direct absolutely squat) when you talk with a cut-off head, you sound like the bunny from "Donnie Darko". Go figure. And how many zombies do you think you would slay while carrying your head around? It's all pretty stupid in a "pass the bong" kind of way.
Thirdly, who cries at their drug dealer's funeral? I understand that this film was supposed to be an exercise in aggro-dysfunctionalism, but the part at the end where our protagonist (patterned after Cameron from "Ferris Bueller" in full wuss mode) gets all misty-eyed over the pusher man was the one scene that was meant to be realistic. Well, if it's all one big joke, I'm still waiting for the punchline, and I got a fist sandwich all ready to go when it shows up.
May the VeggieForce be with you 
2009-10-17 - Dean is a withdrawn teen living in a wealthy suburb where his only friend is Troy, his drug dealer. When Troy dies, a school bully decides to kidnap Dean's little brother to force him to find Troy's stash.
What a terrific movie! I loved it and I think I could see it again and again and still see new things. Although the "rich, alienated teens with self-absorbed parents" plot has been done before, there was nothing cliché about this script. The story constantly surprised me and was quite intense and exciting. The cast is full of big stars: Glenn Close plays Troy's shell-shocked mother, Ralph Fiennes is a spaced-out groom, John Heard plays a tough cop, Allison Janney is Dean's mother obsessed with selling VeggieForce, Jason Isaacs is another parent oblivious to his child and the list goes on. Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) is the star, however, and he's quite wonderful as the pill-popping, long-suffering Dean.
The movie is a dark comedy/tragedy with a fresh look at the emptiness behind the picture-perfect homes of suburbia. Highly recommended.
Bologna 
2009-02-11 - This movie would be unable to exist at all were it not for the absurd caricatures of middle class suburban dwellers. Goes beyond believability, relies very heavily on unusual and unlikely situations to make its point. I know, I know, it's supposed to be dark humor, but I've seen plenty of films criticize the 'burbs better("Poltergeist", "American Beauty","Blue Velvet").
Stupid Film
2009-02-01 - I bought this DVD thinking it would be as the synopsis described: smart, ironic, darkly comedic and with a talented cast how could one go wrong. This movie was just plain stupid. It was not smart, funny, redeeming or ironic. I couldn't wait for it to be over. The only character I liked was the little kid who got kidnapped. Everything else was just stupidly psychotic. If a movie like this is supposed to be some ironic commentary on amoral, retarded suburban life than I think it achieved its purpose. I personally would like to watch a film with a spine and characters who are deeply fleshed out and relatable on some human level without pandering to suicide and drug abuse by teens. Not many an intelligent, thoughtful teen would be into this unless they play tons of mindless, violent video games. One reviewer called this movie like a bad episode of Desperate Housewives. I'd like to think that show is smarter and funnier. Waste of money. I should've waited for some late night D-list movie showing of it.
