Adults in The Chumscrubber appear oblivious when their children go out of control with drugs or are suicidal like Troy Johnson. Troy’s peers liked him because he could provide pills to make them happy and get high. Nobody knew he was teetering back and forth on the brink of killing himself or even cared that his life was a mess. 

Dean Stiffle (Jamie Bell) hung out with Troy (Josh Janowicz) a handful of times, but the entire school seems to think he was involved in everything Troy did including dealing drugs. Dean happens to be at a party thrown by Troy's mother (Glenn Close) and is sent to tell him to turn down his stereo. After discovering Troy dead in his room, Dean leaves the party without saying anything.

Dean’s father William (William Fitchner), a psychiatrist, wants his son to open up about Troy so he can make notes -- but not in a therapy session. When he produces a note pad Dean says, “If you write about me in another one of your books, I’ll kill you.” To solve his son's problems, William gives him some pills, even though he never diagnosed him. He takes no interested in Dean after that.

Billy (Justin Chatwin) and Lee (Lou Taylor Pucci), Troy's biggest clients, think Dean knows exactly where Troy would have stashed his pills before committing suicide. Dean has no clue because he didn't know Troy all that well, but Billy and Lee refuse to buy that excuse.

Crystal (Camilla Belle) appears sensitive, interested in Dean and caring about Troy’s demise. She cozies up to Dean only to set him up so Billy and Lee can get the drugs they need. Billy and Lee threaten violence after Crystal gets nowhere with Dean, who doesn't care about other people or their opinions.  Dean will be no help to her, and once Billy and Lee entered the picture -- no help to them either. As in William's case, they will not believe that Dean doesn't know where the drugs are.

Billy and Lee break into the school office. They inadvertently wind up in the database containing personal information about each of the students. Suddenly, they come across an entry for a Charlie Stiffle (Rory Culkin) and decide on kidnapping him to get the pills from Dean. They threaten to kill Charlie if forced into it. 

Dean laughs this off when Billy threatens Charlie’s life in a phone conversation. Why? Because Charlie is playing videogames in the living room. It appears that Billy, Lee and Crystal have kidnapped the wrong kid.

They have Charlie Bartley (Thomas Curtis) instead of Charlie Stiffle. When they find out they've kidnapped the son of a woman (Rita Wilson) who's marrying the mayor (Ralph Fiennes) the next morning, Billy decides to hold him for ransom, vowing to kill him if he doesn't get what he wants.  With mom and the mayor thinking Charlie is sulking in his room and not missing, what will happen to this substitute Charlie?

There are several terrific performances from a stellar cast here, but Belle stands out. Her character is the window into Charlie’s soul, and Belle convinces us that Crystal's fears mirror his. She makes us believe Crystal can help Charlie and that she's smart enough to walk away from the situation, taking Charlie with her because she knows what Billy is capable of doing, 

Arie Posin wrote the story and makes a directorial debut with The Chumscrubber. Although a novice at directing, Posin delivers a generally fast-paced wicked satire. While this movie may not appeal to everyone’s tastes, it should find an audience now that it's available on DVD. Unfortunately, Posin's use of CGI sequences nearly brings the film to a halt. Viewers who can see past this flaw will be swept up in a story with many twists and turns, one that's funny at times, serious and sullen at others. But it's people with a warped sense of humor who will enjoy The Chumscrubber the most.

(Released by DreamWorks Video and rated "R" for language, violent content, drug material and some sexuality.)