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Justin Cobb (Lou Pucci) is a high school senior from a rather...unusual family. He refers to both of his parents (Vincent D'Onofrio and Tilda Swinton) by their first names since calling them "mom" and "dad" makes them feel old. His dad lives each day as if it should not happen. He is the manager of a sporting goods store, which is a far cry from the professional football player apparently everyone expected him to be, before the injury. His mother is a nurse with a not-so-secret and maybe not-so-innocent crush on a television star.

As a senior in high school, Justin was looking at college. His parents suggested local state schools. The explanation was that he may as well have stayed close to home since he would not have many options to go far because his grades would not have raised any eyebrows with admissions departments. Very matter-of-factly they pointed out that he just lacked the things that students need to get into the colleges worth attending.

Justin was socially awkward and had even less interaction with peers than he did with his parents. Issues with his parents and with school, primarily in Mr. Geary's (Vince Vaughn) debate club, kept Justin rattled. He coped...by sucking his thumb.

Justin had a very unique support group. His younger brother Joel was his conscience and his orthodontist (Keanu Reeves) was his spiritual and philosophical mentor. They helped kept things in perspective.

To relieve the anxiety that led to his unfocused approach to school, a counselor suggested medication. A.D.H.D. was the explanation given to Justin's parents. His pills and the hypnosis administered by his orthodontist served as the one-two punch to break his dependency on sucking his thumb.

Aside from his orthodontist, no one ever really wanted to help Justin. He was the natural scapegoat for the problems that faced his family. His father's life had turned out entirely differently than was planned. He chose to ignore that fact rather than deal with it, though he used Justin as his aggressive release, though it was verbal and emotional and never physical. He channeled his self pity into disappointment in his older son.

Justin's mother had a similar attitude. Though she claimed she fell in love with Justin's father when he suffered the knee injury, there appears to be a rather ironic lingering-resentment. Any pent-up hostility she has about how her life did not turn out anything like her fantasies of being with a big-shot became impatience towards her older son.

Justin's younger brother, Joel, viewed him as a loser. He pointed out Justin's social short-comings throughout the movie. His frustration was not known until the end when he had to tell Justin how hard it was to be the normal one since Justin had monopolized being different.

Towards the end of the movie, they almost became a real family. While on the medication, Justin became a very successful debater. For the first time in his life, Justin's parents were proud of him. They were able to ignore the pangs of personal regret and accept that their son had talent. Vicariously through him, they were able to forget their own failures. Though it is in short supply, he gave them hope. They focused their issues on him, but later it was in a more positive fashion.

A parent should arguably never be more supportive than when a child strives to meet a personal goal. Justin wanted to go to college out of state, though as mentioned above he was never encouraged to try. When it becomes clear that, even if it is without his family's blessing, Justin was leaving, his family pushed back. His dad said that he was just getting used to his son and his mom accused him of flying the coop, alleging he would never come back. Their motives were selfish ones, for with Justin out of the house, their own problems could not be ignored. What he really needed was to get away. Leaving the house, the town, the state could do nothing but good for him.

No one performance stuck out above the rest, though everyone did a decent job. The movie was relatively thought provoking, which is a plus.

I liked Thumbsucker. I liked how Justin was able, through trial and error (with emphasis on error), to realize how to be himself. He began to see how he was like his dad by never being open with the things that bothered him. And how he was like his mother by desiring a life outside his own family. He knew that while taking his pills, it was a glimpse of who he could be, but not who he was. He even tried recreational drugs before seeing that his way out was not through drugs, but rather on an airplane.

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