Justin Cobb is a shy 17-year-old in a family of four, in suburban
Oregon. He has a persistent thumb-sucking habit, that his father disapproves of, which has led to major
orthodontic repair. He addresses his parents by their first names, Mike and Audrey, so as not to make his father feel old. Audrey, a
registered nurse, is idly fascinated by actor, Matt Schramm, entering a contest to win a date with him. She insists it is "innocent fun," but is inordinately concerned with looking attractive for the contest. Justin struggles on his school's
debate team, led by Mr. Geary, which he joined to get closer to his environmentalist classmate, Rebecca. He tries to start a relationship with her, but she rejects him after he cannot open up to her about his thumb-sucking habit. At a regular checkup, Justin's orthodontist, Dr. Perry Lyman, indicates he can tell that Justin is still sucking his thumb, and attempts
hypnosis, coaching Justin to find his
power animal (a deer) and
suggesting that his thumb will taste like
echinacea. This works, and Justin finds his thumb distasteful, but falls deeper into frustration without the crutch. After Justin conspires with his brother to disrupt Dr. Lyman in a bicycle race with Justin's father, his school counselor prods the Cobbs to give him
Ritalin. While his parents wring their hands over the idea, Justin insists that he needs the help. Almost immediately after beginning treatment, Justin experiences elevated energy, confidence and focus. He begins to excel on the debate team, unseating Rebecca from the star position; she quits the team and drifts into the
stoners crowd. Justin's newfound aggression nets the debate team repeated awards. Simultaneously, he begins to challenge the
neuroses of the adults around him, especially their struggles with aging. With a somewhat deceitful cover letter, he applies to
NYU, despite his mother's urging that he go to college closer to home. After rambling incoherently at the state debate championship, Justin quits the debate team, throws away the pills, and seeks out Rebecca to hook him up with
pot. During their smoking sessions, Rebecca blindfolds him and engages with him in kissing and other sexual activity, which Justin interprets as a relationship. But when he broaches the subject, Rebecca tells him otherwise, calling their meetings an "experiment." She tells him to leave, and he returns home. Both Justin and his father suspect that Audrey is having an affair with Schramm, after she is transferred to a celebrity
rehab facility where Schramm has been committed. Attempting to catch his mother in the act, he instead meets Schramm sneaking a smoke in the bushes and learns the unromantic truth. The next day, he receives an acceptance letter from NYU. During a final checkup, Dr. Lyman reveals to Justin his discovery that thumb-sucking is not a medically debilitating problem, and says that everyone has their own flaws and nobody has all the answers—that in fact learning to live without having the answers is (perhaps) the answer. On his flight to New York, Justin dreams of reaching his goal of being a TV anchor, "sharing the truth with the world " He wakes up after
sleeptalking to find his thumb in his mouth and an attractive girl smiling at him. Slightly embarrassed, but self-confident, he introduces himself. ==Cast==