Allison Janney, Rory Culkin, Ralph Fiennes

Dean's best friend Troy is the point where it all starts. He has connections to happy pills. But when Troy kills himself, bored with the meaninglessness of life in a materialistic, completely fabricat...( read more  read more... )ed California suburb, his usual buyers don't stop wanting the drugs.

Flixster Users

78% liked it

34,444 ratings

Critics

34% liked it

58 critics

R, 1 hr. 47 min.

Directed by: Arie Posin

Release Date: August 5, 2005

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DVD Release Date: January 10, 2006

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Stats: 1,957 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,957)


  • March 19, 2009
    I hate movies like this. Movies that try to analyze teenage angst as a result of poor parenting and the drab, artificiality of suburban life. What The Chumscrubber tries to do is go the Donnie Darko route, only to end up with delivering superficial, cookie-cutter ideas about te...( read more)en rebellion.
    Jamie Bell plays a loser teen who relies on drugs to feel good about himself. His parents try to understand him, but they do all the wrong things, because quite simply, parents just don't get their children.
    I guess Jamie Bell delivers a good performance, since he's in almost every scene, and is able to look consistently depressed through the entire ordeal. Maybe he really was, having realized the movie he just signed on for.
  • December 29, 2008
    I thought this was a very funny and truthful movie dat i think every1 shud watch once. PARENTS especially!!!!
  • July 22, 2008
    prety neat dark comedy though I would have liked it alot more if it was a little darker. Think donnie darko but lighter and you pretty much get the chumscrubber.
  • May 5, 2008
    wtf. how is this movie good? who knows but its damn splendid.
  • January 18, 2008
    A very nice surprise. Extremely intriguing and intelligent plot as well as complex and interesting characters. Has both humor and tragedy, cleverly brought together and it could take a second watch to catch it all. The teen cast, which by the way doesn't make it a teen flick at a...( read more)ll, does a very good job and Glenn Close and Ralph Fiennes, playing secondary characters, are definitely an extra to this very well made and suprisingly enjoyable film.
  • November 15, 2009
    all though it was weird in parts I really enjoyed this movie kept me wanting to watch the whole way through. I know all the adults were all the celebrities in the movie but it was the teenagers parts that were the most entertaining to watch Jamie Bell was very good and proves hes...( read more) not the faggy dancing kid from Billy Elliot anymore.
  • October 17, 2009
    The Chumscrubber: jesus - if there's ever a film that makes me realise why i enjoy the world of cinema so much then this is without a doubt it. A perfectly blended sculpture of perfection. A cast to die for - big props to Fiennes & Close too for under-selling their characters so ...( read more)fantastically - many others wouldn't have been able to pull off the trials and tribulations their characters go through with such aplomb. Lou Taylor Pucci, Justin Chatwin, William Fitchner, Carrie Anne-Moss (wowzer), John Heard & Rita Wilson are all on top form - even little bit part roles like the ones played by Lauren Holly, Jason Issacs & Rory Culkin are sold to perfection. The star of the show though is without a doubt Jamie Bell - he is fast joining my list of actors who can do no wrong, and he aces the yank accent to a T and is throughly enigmatic throughout. Who would ever have thought that Billy Elliott was so fuckin talented?
    The story is, i suppose, Dazed & Confused meets Happiness meets Alpha Dog meets Requiem For A Dream. It's about kids & adults, drugs & depression, being lost & looking to be found, weddings & funerals and deaths & marriages. It's a fantastic ensemble piece where i can say truthfully that every single actor brings their A-game.
    It left me feeling one of those "i fuckin loved that" feelings after- and its a rare movie can do that at the best of times and this is exaclty that - a rare movie, full of wonder and brilliance, performances you could only wish for, with a script that keeps bubbling away at a relentless pace successfully intertwining all the stories and ultimately leaving you (well, me at least) throughly satisfied at the end. I reckon that it could definately do with a second watch too as there's so much going on it wouldn't do it justice to watch it only once. I fucking loved this film and for somebody who's bored that wants to kill an hour and a half then i couldnt think of a better film to recommend than this ensemble piece. Enjoyably epic
  • October 14, 2009
    "I live in a city, but in an apartment high above the cloud left by the blast. I'm one of the lucky ones. One morning, I awoke to find my head was no longer attached to my body. I'm not dead, but who could call this a life? So I do what I can, in this city of freaks and subhuman ...( read more)creatures. I became... The Chumscrubber." A subtle but very powerful, noir-preposterous, insightful 'protest movie'. A puncture on the perfect suburbia middle class picture. Stand-offish, ignorance, communication failure & disconnection between people: 'adults' & 'young adults', 'adults' & 'adults', 'young adults & young adults'. Great directing, writing & ensemble cast.
  • October 13, 2009
    Fails to find an original, coherent style. While there are some hilarious scenes that save it from being a waste of time, clichéd characters, unfinished ideas and bland cinematography make it quite forgettable.
  • October 6, 2009
    Yes, it may be a bit of a weird movie, but it is an amazing movie at the same time. It is definitely on my Top 15 Movies List!

Critic Reviews


September 9, 2005
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

An appallingly clumsy and stupid take on drugs, kidnapping and suicide in suburbia. full review

September 7, 2005
Marcy Dermansky, About.com

The hip teen satire has gotten awfully familiar. full review

August 4, 2005
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

A shallow, synthetic critique of suburbia loaded with more hand-me-down quirks than it can justify. full review

View more The Chumscrubber reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • sojwil
    August 23, 2007
    Does anyone know the music which is used during the film. I couldn't find on the OST CD. It's a constant returning sample, basically strings are used.
  • thalie13
    March 30, 2007
    jamie bell and justin chatwin HUH!

    I want to see that movie!!!
  • MissMaryMac
    January 8, 2007
    which guys were hot?
  • DestroyDemonocracy
    October 29, 2006
    i love the chumscrubber its my all time favorite movie (alot of hott guys in it to well 3 anyways lol)

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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The Chumscrubber Trivia


  • Which film features Ralph Fiennes as a mayor mesmerized by dolphins?  Answer »
  • What two actors in the movie "The Chumscrubber" Say these lines Who put that knife in the wall? I did. Fix it. No. Excuse me? It's my room. No. It's not your room. It is a room in my house. Then you fix it.   Answer »
  • In the film The Chumscrubber, what exactly is a Chumscrubber?  Answer »
  • What movie does this tagline come from? Meet Generation Rx  Answer »

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