Lou Pucci took the Best Actor Award at the Berlin Film Festival for his performance in this gentle satire of suburban family angst. He plays 17-year-old Justin Cobb, who tries half-heartedly to ‘fix’ his oral obsession by replacing it with a host of interesting alternatives, including Ritalin.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2005
Thumbsucker 2004
Lou Pucci took the Best Actor Award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival for his performance in this gentle satire of suburban family angst. He plays 17-year-old Justin Cobb who tries half-heartedly to ‘fix’ his oral obsession by replacing it with a host of interesting alternatives, including Ritalin. “The often-moving story captures a family trying to figure things out – kids and parents alike question who they are. Mills' trademark affection for the fluidity and openness of adolescence is evident; the music, most of it by The Polyphonic Spree, is terrific; and there are visual quirks, too… But the film… is remarkable mainly in the way it reveals just how much Mills wants to find a way to communicate the minor epiphanies that help us comprehend what's real, what’s important.” — Holly Willis, Res
“Thumbsucker has the gentle off-kilter charm of early Cameron Crowe [Say Anything], or the late indie rocker Elliott Smith, who contributed to the soundtrack… Keanu Reeves redefines himself as the thumbsucker's hugely amusing New Age dentist, and Tilda Swinton is luminous as the hero's mom.” — Tim Appelo, Seattle Weekly