About the disconnect between parents and kids, our true desires and what we choose to do in life, about being so caught up and afraid that we ignore everything except what we want to see and hear. This movie uses a video game character that aptly describes the feelings, a kid who got his head cut off but came back to life and is neither alive, nor dead. The main character longs for his father's acknowledgement and acceptance so he does whatever his father asks him to, the father hungers for importance so he writes a book about his son's problems and ignores his family, the mother wanted to be loved and accepted so she sells veggie vitamins looking for a family who will cherish her...It's about the solution being right in front of our face but instead of reaching out fulfilling our true desires we find some tepid remedy ignoring the reality of things as they slowly build and not seeing it until everything explodes...about listless entertainment and never knowing satisfying pleasure. This tale is expertly woven to describe a facet of the American suburbia...For me, only the end leaves us unsatisfied and wanting. So I can't help to ask if the film is really coherent in it's message. Anyways, if you liked American Beauty, or Donnie Darko, or Wristcutters: a love story...watch this film!!

Dean is a withdrawn teen living in a wealthy suburb where his only friend is Troy, his drug dealer. When Troy dies, a school bully kidnaps Dean's little brother to force him to find Troy's stash.What a terrific movie! I loved it and I think I could see it again and again and still see new things. Although the "rich, alienated teens with self-absorbed parents" plot has been done before, there was nothing cliché about this script. The story constantly surprised me and was quite intense and exciting. The cast is full of big stars: Glenn Close plays Troy's shell-shocked mother, Ralph Fiennes is a spaced-out groom, John Heard plays a tough cop, Allison Janney is Dean's mother obsessed with selling VeggieForce, Jason Isaacs is another parent oblivious to his child and the list goes on. Jamie Bell ("Billy Elliot") is the star, however, and he's quite wonderful as the pill-popping, long-suffering Dean.The movie is a dark comedy/tragedy with a fresh look at the emptiness behind the picture-perfect homes of suburbia. Highly recommended.

I'm sure this film was trying to make some commentary on middle-class suburbia, all is not what it seems or what-not. Any profound statements this film makes certainly went over my head. I think that's because there weren't any.The film follows the life of Dean, a high school boy whose best friend, Troy recently committed suicide. The suicide victim was a drug dealer, and a school bully, Billy (Justin Chatwin) along with his friend Lee (Lou Taylor Pucci) and girlfriend Crystal (Camilla Belle)mistakenly kidnap a boy they thought was Dean's brother as collateral so that Dean would would bring Troy's drugs to Billy. It also follows the lives of some of the other couples in this seemingly normal community.This is an all-star cast - Glenn Close, Ralph Feinnes, Rita Wilson, Jon Heard to name a few. Perhaps they mistakenly thought that this film had a purpose. Most of the characters in this film are absolutely absurd stereotypes, with Ralph Feinnes character just ridiculous. I did find the kidnapping plot interesting though. I wish the film had focused entirely on this. This was perhaps the only poignant social commentary in the film, the dangers of peer pressure and parental ignorance. The character of Billy was actually quite fascinating as the psychopath on the verge of doing something terrible. None of the other characters were likable or interesting. And none of them were 'real'.Basically, the film was just plain weird, which was enough to keep you watching. But much of it was just being weird for the sake of it, trying to make some obscure point. But really this film explores nothing that hasn't been explored before. One reviewer put it perfectly when he said this film was "Desperate Housewives meets Donnie Darko." Of course the writing was the on the wall because I hate both of those. I'm still in the dark as to what the hell a "Chumscrubber" is. Yet another attempt by this film to be profound. I wouldn't say this film is a loss completely. As I've said the kidnapping plot line was interesting. The rest is garbage.

It's been a while since a movie has offered me as many special moments of beauty and truth. While the film as been condemned by some critics and viewers as trite, contrived, pretentious garbage, I sense there is an underlying irony to these assertions - only pretentious people take pride in convicting art as pretentious. There are lessons to be learnt from this film, if only you drop your own pretences and accept that the message in this film is not only relevant, but challenging and on the whole, enlightening. It's easy to denounce Ralph Fiennes character as overcooked pretentious fluff, if you don't take a moment to really accept the actions of his character and learn some real and valuable lessons about observing the world in the way its meant to be observed, without fear or shame. The scene where Justin Chatwin's character gets hit by a car and spots a plane flying overhead is not only amusing, but deeply tragic - essentially it's about a kid so enslaved by his insecurities he loses his dream, his ambition, his one love. There are so many of these thought-provoking moments that i could go on all day, but at the end of the day, this film is an ode to enlightenment and a revelation that regardless of the questionability of our demeanor, we are all simply victims of the civilised world and undeserved of judgement or condemnation.Good stuff.