Thumbsucker

Everybody is addicted to something, and for Justin Cobb, it's his thumb. He loves to suck it while sleeping or awake. He has to hide his addiction though (only a few people know about it, including family and doctors), as it would be embarrassing if everyone knew, so when he finally stops sucking his thumb, his life and that of everyone around him will change. This is the story of Mike Mills' weird but wonderful Thumbsucker.

Lou Pucci gives a starmaking performance as Justin. Quite, tormented, alienated from everybody because of his thumbsucking addiction. He's part of the debate team at school though, but I think only to be close to his friend Rebecca (Kelli Garner, much hotter than a few years ago when she played a drug addict in Larry Clark's Bully), the debate team captain, and the girl he secretly loves. They get together one day, but Justin's thumb problem prevents him to go further. Then something happens when he goes to the dentist.
In one of the best scenes of the movie, Justin's dentist Perry hypnotizes him to cure him, to free him from his thumb. Perry is played by Keanu Reeves, who gives the classic Keanu performance he always gives. But his voice is perfect for this role, and the dialogue during the hypnosis sounds like stuff Morpheus would say. It works though, and so Justin stops sucking his thumb, but right after that he starts going crazy. He starts losing control of himself and he can't concentrate, and going back to thumbsucking is not an option (I wont spoil the reason).

And so he's diagnosed for ADD and given Ritalin, and just like that he's good as new. Full of energy and confidence, Justin goes to lead the debate team, even winning awards. This makes for the second great scene in the movie, as Justin and the 3 girls in the debate team (Rebecca has left the team after Justin's rejection, for reasons not given) go with their debate teacher Mr. Geary to a debate in a different city. They stay in a hotel and Justin demands for him to stay in the same room as the girls since they are all of the same age and should stay up all night preparing for the debate. Mr. Geary, played by Vince Vaughn, accepts, and after that Justin convinces him to buy them beer. What follows is the dream of any guy, the girls are cute and they all get drunk, but they get too playful, and nothing ends up happening. It's a great scene though, specially all the first parts with Vince, and it's all backed with great music which I'll talk about later.

Justin changes once again after a debate rival informs him that Ritalin is only molecules away from cocaine, which is true I think, so he stops taking them, and just like that his energy goes down, he loses concentration, can't debate and leaves the team.
He goes back to Rebecca, who is now a stoner at school. Justin becomes a stoner too, and here's when the story loses it for me. I can't quite describe why but I love everything up until that point, and then it's just ok.
There's one more great scene though, as we are introduced to Matt Schramm (played by Benjamin Bratt), a big time actor whom Justin's mom Audrey (played by Tilda Swinton) loves. Audrey starts working in a rehab facility for celebrities, and Justin finds out that Matt goes there because of drug abuse. Justin thinks his mom is having an affair with the actor so he sneaks into the facility at night to spy on them, only to find Matt hiding in the bushes in the back smoking. Matt tells him the story of how Audrey (not knowing that Justin is her son) saved his life. The story is disturbing, and taking out of Trainspotting or something like that. It's amazing.
There's also Vincent D'Onofrio who plays Justin's father Mike. He hates the thumbsucking and even when Justin stops they have problems communicating. Mike used to be a football star, but an injury kept him from going pro. He's now very competitive, specially with Perry. They compete all the time in marathons and stuff like that but Perry always beats him.

The soundtrack is excellent, with original music from Elliott Smith and Tim DeLaughter. The songs by DeLaughter are performed by The Polyphonic Spree, and they work perfect in the movie if a little overused at times. And the dialogue is great, from Keanu's words of wisdom to the debate speeches, is all excellent. I loved the movie, despite that loss of energy towards the end. But on the whole, Thumbsucker has great performances, music, and writing, and it's one of the most original movies of the year. All thanks to Mike Mills' great work, can't wait for his next movie.