FI: Thumbsucker

A rather typical teen-angst indie -- down to its light indie rock soundtrack full of Polyphonic Spree and Elliott Smith tunes -- Thumbsucker is well-acted if a bit muddled. The coming-of-age stuff works pretty well, though the plot is spread thin across multiple storylines, which causes the film to go off the rails a bit heading into the third act. As the film is based on a novel, this is probably a case where some things worked better (and therefore should have stayted) on the page. The "lessons" the protagonist learns are a bit facile, though Lou Taylor Pucci's fine performance makes up for that a bit. Despite those complains and a rather predictable ending, Thumbsucker does understand the world of a teenager better than a lot of similar movies, and is an OK rental because of it.