Glück in kleinen Dosen (The Chumscrubber)
U.S.A./Germany 2005

Opening 5 Oct 2006

Directed by: Arie Posin
Writing credits: Arie Posin, Zac Stanford
Principal actors: Glenn Close, Ralph Fiennes, Jamie Bell, Camille Belle, Rory Culkin

High school student Troy hangs himself during his mother’s pool party, but there is barely a ripple in the complacent suburb of Hillside, a perfect place where everyone is a kind of Stepford wife. Troy’s best friend is Dean, whose father analyses him and his reaction to the suicide (no reaction really) for another chapter in his book The Happy Accident. Troy’s mother Carrie worries about returning the correct dish to each family which donated food for the funeral. In an effort to get a rise about of Dean, high school students kidnap his brother, but get the wrong kid. This is young Charlie Bratley who lives with his mother and her fiancé, the mayor of Hillside, Michael Ebbs. Neither ever realize that the boy is gone. Dean’s brother, also named Charlie, is at home watching a TV series called The Chumscrubber, a science fiction survivor of an atomic blast who carries his head under his arm and lives in a world of freaks and subhuman creatures. Parallels are obvious. If this were Harold and Maude, Troy would have found a nice person who cared for him and he would still be alive. Although sad enough, it is actually a comedy, a satire about non-commitment, shiny surfaces, and perfection without love or human empathy in a commercial, consumer world where “the average kids sees 10,000 dead bodies on TV before the age of 18” and everyone is holding on to a glass of wine. Director is Arie Posier. This is an ensemble piece with a large interesting cast including Glenn Close, Ralph Fiennes, Jamie Bell, Camille Belle, Rory Culkin, and Lou Taylor Pucci (winner of best actor for Thumbsucker in Berlin).This would have fit perfectly in the 2006 Hamburg film festival which featured an unusual number of malfunctioning families, in this case six of them. (Becky Tan)