| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 24, 2011

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 1, 2006

Unlike so many movies in which a character changes in order to propel the plot forward, this one stops to follow up on the consequences of those changes.

Full Review | Dec 9, 2005

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Like Justin, Mills struggles to make his point, but even so, this is a tender portrait of teenhood.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 1, 2005

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 15, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 8, 2005

So no one would argue that Thumbsucker sucks. But the thing does seem just so indie-movie familiar.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 7, 2005

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 1, 2005

One thing's for sure, of all the things a person can think to say about this movie one they certainly can't, title to the contrary, is that it sucks.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 1, 2005

Brave, funny leap into the abyss of adolescence.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 30, 2005

A gently stirring symphony about emotional transition filled with lovely musical passages and softly nuanced performances.

| Sep 29, 2005

Quiet, quirky gem.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 29, 2005

Although often amusing, Thumbsucker lacks the necessary bite.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 23, 2005

Mills, working from a novel by Walter Kirn, brings some unusual touches to a film that could easily have become a standard indie coming-of-age tale.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 23, 2005

A smart, funny, sometimes lovely little film.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 22, 2005

I have focused on Justin, but really the movie is equally about the adult characters, who all seem to have lacked adequate parenting themselves. We talk about the tragedy of children giving birth to children; maybe that can happen at any age.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 22, 2005

The movie never reaches much of a dramatic climax, but there are many surprises on the way to nowhere, and Mills's refusal to rush brings out the humor and the hidden tensions in material.

Full Review | Sep 20, 2005

[Vaughn is] playing a different role here and I thought it was a really strong performance.

Full Review | Sep 19, 2005

Respectful performances are given by all, with Pucci the standout. But the actors can't escape the confines of the warmed-over, coming-of-age-in-suburbia script.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 16, 2005