WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

bowmanblue I don't know why I originally chose to sit down and watch 'The Chumscrubber.' Maybe it was the name, or maybe it was the impressive cast list? Or maybe I was just bored. Whatever the reason, it left a profound impact on me. I watched it. Loved it. And then forgot about it completely until the next time. Then I repeated that - again and again. I've seen it at least three times now and every time I love it and, for whatever reason, have real trouble recalling what it was about until I find myself watching it again a few years later.I guess it could be described as a really 'unique' type of film, or at least it would be if it wasn't for the fact that it feels very similar to the legendary 'Donnie Darko.' In today's world of 'shared cinematic universes' I reckon there's a reality out there somewhere where the two of these films co-exist. Both are about a young, troubled boy whose world is turned upside down in an insular community of modern suburban America.Whereas 'Donnie Darko' was definitely science fiction, I'm tempted to say that 'The Chumscrubber' is also - at least part - sci-fi. However, on my latest re-watch I'd say whatever 'supernatural' elements are here, they are so minor they're barely worth talking about. Jamie Bell plays Dean, whose drug-dealing best friend kills himself, leaving the local thugs out of pocket when it comes to their stash. Therefore, the town's clichéd school bullies kidnap another boy and try to blackmail Dean into retrieving the 'merchandise.'Seeing as I'm refusing to acknowledge 'The Chumscrubber' as science fiction, I'm going to call it a 'satire.' In other words... it's not quite funny enough to be a comedy, but there's enough in it to make you smile to stop it from being an out and out drama. Its message is how parents are too wrapped up in their own - legally medicated - worlds to notice what's happening to their own children.I can see a lot of people finding this film 'too weird' to be enjoyable, but, put simply, if you're a fan of 'Donnie Darko' type movies, you should like what's happening here, too. It's clever, dramatic, funny, different, has a message about our modern way of life and did I mention practically every cast member is a recognisable face in his or her own right?

rex-wms I almost turned this off after 40 minutes but decided to stick it out in case it developed some semblance of a story line. It didn't.Knowing where to begin listing what's wrong with this film is challenging since there's so much ground to cover. But lack of originality is as good a place as any. The movie tries to cross American Beauty with Donnie Darko and pass the result off as fresh. But it fails from the get go and comes off as a contrived nervous breakdown.It seems the writer figured those successful movies could be replicated by following a simplistic formula. Just make every character goofy and unbelievable, throw in a handful of disjointed story lines and outrageous dialog, script in a few preposterous sexual situations, add a smattering of science fiction or hallucinations (not sure which), show "egdy" (read: absurdly excessive) drug use and dealing, include a suicide and some attempted murder, and drop f-bombs all over and there, you have a "profound" movie nobody will admit is incomprehensible.The film does not fit in any genre, but this is achieved through deliberate awkwardness. See! It's arty because you don't know how to react, and you don't know how to react because we've injected random, pointless contradictions. Perhaps this movie does fit into a genre, though: it's a disaster film. D-.

srepsher This seems to be one of those movies L.A. actors like to do, possibly because they don't have to commute very far to the shoot during filming. Whatever the reason, the result is an ensemble cast that includes some really high quality actors (Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, William Fichtner, John Heard, Rita Wilson), essentially spinning their thespian wheels in a film that's not really bad, but just adds nothing new or redeeming to what was already a pretty shallow subgenre.Yes, okay, the L.A. suburbs are full of vapid, narcissistic, and most importantly--or at least, most conspicuously--over-medicated tools so starved for genuine human interaction and so beaten down by the lack of it that they have no recourse but to swallow a handful of the pink ones and join the zombie masses themselves, thereby (ironically) perpetuating the cycle.It's a great conceit, but for the love of Jeff, it's been done to death. Watch Rian Johnson's "Brick" from 2005 instead. Much more edifying, entertaining, and original.

moviemaster This is a movie with tremendous potential, but because of an incredibly poor choice for a title, has had little traction. It will undoubtedly be a cult classic. But it was a box office bomb. "Chumbscrubber" means nothing to most people. It means something now to anyone who has seen the movie, but I'm not sure that was the audience Mr. Posin sought. For the hip 16-20 age group, it may have been too complex and depressing. For anyone older, the idea of a movie based on a video game character is a put off. Then there's the problem of no sex, not good for a lot of young males. There's a little violence, at the end. What there is a lot of is talking and that usually requires a more mature audience to want to listen and ponder. The acting is, for the most part, superb. If one is going to make an art house movie, he has to cater to that crowd. Don't mix in video games. If one is going to appeal to teenagers, then do so... give them lots of action, sex and a car chase or two. First, figure out the audience desired. But bravo for trying to make something perceptive. Obviously most people in this country aren't perceptive or we wouldn't have such a dunce for Pres.