'Thumbsucker' definitely doesn't suck

Adolescence sucks. It's filled with tumultuous times when teenagers struggle to identify who they really are.

The recently released "Thumbsucker," written and directed by Mike Mills, portrays this notion through a story about one such adolescent, Justin Cobb, played by Lou Taylor Pucci ("Personal Velocity"). Justin goes through his senior year of high school trying to figure out himself, his family, the mysteries of the opposite sex, all while trying to curb the thumb-sucking addiction he's had since childhood.

"Thumbsucker" follows the style of most modern independent films like "Garden State" and "Napoleon Dynamite," in which an involved plot takes a backseat to examination of the characters and their relationships with one another. It deals with a lot of issues facing kids today such as the use of the stimulant Ritalin, pressures of getting into college and uncovering the secrets of sex.

In his best role since portraying Ted in the cult classic "Bill & Ted's" series, Keanu Reeves plays Perry Lyman, who is Justin's orthodontist and mentor.

Reeves portrays Lyman as a confused hippie who, along with being a health specialist, gives crucial advice to Justin and even hypnotizes him to help Justin stop sucking his thumb.

Also starring in the film is frat-packer Vince Vaughn, who portrays Justin's apprehensive, yet compassionate debate teacher Mr. Geary. Vaughn does an excellent job in playing the teacher because he doesn't overact in the minimal role. Yet, the viewer still notices glimpses of the "Swingers" Vaughn in Mr. Greary.

The film uses a lot of natural light and stays away from the gaudiness for which most mainstream films are known. The true lighting makes the characters and events seem more real and lifelike, helping the viewer relate to the film.

The style of the film is similar to "Garden State" in the way the camera uses long, drawn-out, moving shots to bring the viewer into a scene. This style does get a bit tedious towards the end of the film, but for a movie that's a middling 96 minutes long, the process isn't terribly overused.

The film resembles ordinary life because Justin is strikingly similar to the everyday bewildered teenager.

The plot doesn't take any extreme turns but stays centered on Justin's psyche. There are many cuts in which the film goes inside Justin's dreams and desires. In one such scene, Justin fantasizes of his dream girl Rebecca (Kelli Garner of "The Aviator") lying half-naked on his bed while they're doing homework.

Another dream sequence depicts Justin's withdrawal from Ritalin by showing him search through a large pile of garbage for his pills. He had thrown them out the night before to prove to himself that he could still be a good student without the use of a stimulant that's "three molecules away from being classified as cocaine."

Vincent D'Onofrio ("The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys") and Tilda Swinton ("Constantine") play Pucci's idiosyncratic parents. While Mike Cobb (D'Onofrio) is stuck in his own world of managing a sporting goods store and dealing with the fact that he never made it into pro football, Audrey Cobb (Swinton) seems more in tune with Justin but has interests of her own such as trying to win a sweepstakes which offers a date with a local television star.

Throughout the film, the viewer sees Justin go from a troubled loner struggling with school, to a pill-popping debate captain, to a perplexed and disheartened pothead. Although not everyone can relate to such radical changes during their high school years, the ways in which Justin Cobb gets himself into these predicaments make the film believable.