The Chumscrubber

The Idiot Plot is what Roger Ebert calls films that require that all the characters behave like idiots. Based on the same cliché, a slightly different concept should apply to The Chumscrubber: the Lunatic Plot – basically, lunatics everywhere. I’m pretty used to a number of insane worlds, but here I was caught off-guard after half an hour because I had only read the synopsis and the genre category before the screening. This film is very weird and a chilling satire of the modern small town world that in a way puts a merciless mirror in front of you. (23.07.2010)

The comparison to American Beauty, which operates in the same combination of satire and drama genres, is fitting because in my eyes, that film overwhelmingly beats The Chumscrubber. Recently, I harshly criticized a film whose main character acted foolishly and detached from reality, while here, everyone behaves foolishly in order to confirm the efforts of the screenwriter and director. It's quite clear what the film wants to criticize. It's a matter of exaggerated individualism, egoism, consumerism, and moreover, it tries to confirm the claim that the US population is most affected by various psychiatric disorders. However, it chases too many rabbits at once and offers only functional moments and individual lines or scenes, instead of functioning as a whole. Overall impression: 40%. It's a typical festival film that can resonate with a certain audience. (18.04.2011)