Thumbsucker (2005)

Image credit: Thumbsucker: Todd Cole

ONE THUMB UP Thumbsucker's Pucci

Justin (Lou Pucci), the 17-year-old hero of Thumbsucker, is one of those long-haired indie-flick adolescent pretty-boys who act out their deep reservoirs of disaffection by not saying very much. Adapted from Walter Kirn's 1999 novel, the film isn't nearly as witty as its source, but just as you're growing weary of its shaggy morose cool, Justin, who has never stopped sucking his thumb, is put on Ritalin, and he becomes a debate-team champion — a precocious star, reveling in his mouthy superiority. Alas, his newfound jerkdom doesn't last, but even after the film returns to its alt-rock-flavored preciousness, Pucci proves to be one of the most charismatic male ingenues since Johnny Depp.