PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
The Chumscrubber (2005)

The Chumscrubber (2005)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 5-Dec-2006

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Main Menu Animation
Audio Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurette
Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2005
Running Time 103:14
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (73:27) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Arie Posin
Studio
Distributor

Warner Home Video
Starring Jamie Bell
Camilla Belle
Justin Chatwin
Glenn Close
Kathi Copeland
Rory Culkin
Thomas Curtis
Case ?
RPI $34.95 Music James Horner
Mel Lewis


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    The Chumscrubber is a movie that was destined for cult status from the get-go. It is far too black for a general audience, intricately assembled, and contains an ensemble that many directors would die for. Taken on spec alone, it would be easy to dismiss The Chumscrubber as yet another satirical commentary on the state of suburban USA. The market has long become flooded with these sort of films (American Beauty has a lot to answer for here!), each promising their own quirky tale on middle America, but few rarely deliver as well as The Chumscrubber.

    The story-telling style borrows heavily from Donnie Darko and American Beauty. The film exposes a rich tapestry of characters and storylines by following the exploits of one character, Dean (Jamie Bell), and bringing in related storylines as appropriate.

    After his stash of happy pills runs dry, Dean heads next door to buy some more from his best mate Troy (Josh Janowicz), who has a contact at the local hospital who sells them to him in quantities large enough to keep the local high school supplied. Dean finds Troy dead, having committed suicide, but doesn't tell anyone. He leaves Troy's house quietly and goes home to meditate on the situation.

    Things get ugly when Dean goes back to school. The school thug, Billy (Justin Chatwin), and his friends (Camilla Belle and Lou Taylor Pucci) want Troy's stash to sell, so the they attempt to kidnap Dean's brother Charlie (Rory Culkin) to blackmail Dean into getting it for them. Unfortunately for them, they get the wrong Charlie (Thomas Curtis) - the mayor's soon-to-be stepson.

    The titular "Chumscrubber" is a fictional cartoon character, who carries his head in one hand and uses it as a weapon, whose exploits in ridding a decaying world of zombies are called for comparison to the events in the main story of the film.

    The supporting cast is phenomenal and none turn in less than a great performance. It includes Ralph Fiennes as the increasingly aloof mayor with a fascination for dolphins, Rita Wilson as his self-centred fiancé, William Fichtner as Dean's best selling pop psychologist father (read: Dr. Phil clone!), Allison Janney as Dean's entrepreneurial (in an Avon lady kind of way) mother, Glenn Close as Troy's grieving mother who is rapidly losing her grip on reality, Jason Isaacs as conservative father of one of the thugs, and Carrie-Anne Moss as the MILF of another.

    Much like Donnie Darko, The Chumscrubber barely made a dent on the box office upon its theatrical release, both in Australia and overseas. Hopefully, it finds the audience it deserves with this DVD release. The Chumscrubber comes highly recommended for anyone that appreciates satire or black humour.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is hard to fault.

    The film is presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, slightly wider than the original 2.35:1 aspect, and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The image is reasonably sharp and quite clear. Grain is minimal and there are no noticeable film artefacts in the transfer. The level of shadow detail in the handful of dark scenes is very good (e.g. at 5:08, everything in a darkened bedroom is quite clear).

    The colour levels are quite bold, befitting the tone of the film (everything is bright and shiny on the outside but messed up on the inside - not to say anything in the transfer is messed up!), and even throughout.

    There are no problems with MPEG or film-to-video artefacts in the transfer.

    There are no subtitle tracks on this disc.

    This is a single-sided, dual-layer disc, with the layer change fairly discretely placed in between scenes at 73:27.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Three audio tracks are available, English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 Kbps), English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 Kbps) and an English commentary track.

    The soundtrack is well mixed. The dialogue is clear and easy to understand throughout. The dialogue is generally in sync, but there are a handful of points where the ADR is noticeable (such as at 68:20 during a relatively long shot on Ralph Fiennes).

    The surround speakers are used quite subtly throughout the feature, mainly for environmental effects. This is quite an adequate sound design for this type of film and it is well executed. Likewise, subwoofer usage is limited, but appropriate.

    The score is a fairly standard orchestral piece, but it reflects the tone of the film effectively.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Audio Commentary with director Arie Posin

    This commentary falls heavily into the trap of spending most of its time over-explaining the obvious and not going into any particularly interesting detail about anything. As such it is a chore to listen through in one sitting, if at all.

10 Deleted Scenes

    The deleted scenes manage to expand on one character and introduce a relationship between two characters that was not particularly implied in the final film. They make for quite interesting viewing. The video quality is not particularly good on most of them, however.

Promotional Making of Featurette (11:23)

    This brief 'Making of' featurette features numerous cast interviews and behind the scenes footage, but adds up to little more than an occasionally interesting promotional piece for the film. The video is presented in a 1.29:1 full frame aspect and appears a little blurred - not great, but adequate.

Theatrical Trailer (2:21)

    One stock standard theatrical trailer for The Chumscrubber that carefully features pretty much every name member of the cast, regardless of the size of their role.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The Region 1 release of The Chumscrubber misses out on the Theatrical Trailer featured on this version, but contains each of the other extra features found on the Region 4 edition. The IMDB and many online retailers do not list all the extra features on the Region 1 edition as they are not listed on the Region 1 packaging.

    Region 4 misses out on Spanish, English and French Subtitles.

    The difference between the two editions is so slight that I would call this comparison a draw.

Summary

    A refreshing take on a genre that is growing stale. Anybody with a taste for satire or black humour will find something to appreciate in The Chumscrubber.

    There is a reasonable range of extras, but the only substantial extra is really the swag of deleted scenes.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is very good.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Adam Gould (Totally Biolicious!)
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Review Equipment
DVDLG V8824W, using S-Video output
DisplayLG 80cm 4x3 CRT. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderPioneer VSX-D512. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-D512
Speakers150W DTX front speakers, and a 100W centre and 2 surrounds, 12 inch PSB Image 6i powered sub

Other Reviews NONE