Keanu Reeves (left) and Kelli Garner pose before a news conference for the film "Thumbsuckers" at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Tuesday September 13, 2005. (CP PHOTO/Frank Gunn)

TORONTO -- Midway through the press conference for his directorial debut "Thumbsucker," writer-director Mike Mills clarified something for everyone: "My thumb tastes horrible."

Mills was in town yesterday promoting the film with a banquet of stars, which included Keanu Reeves, Tilda Swinton, Kelli Garner and newcomer, Lou Pucci (Vincent D'Onofrio, Benjamin Bratt and Vince Vaughan also star, but were not present).

"Thumbsucker," which is adapted from Walter Kirn's novel, tells the story of Justin Cobb (played by Lou Pucci), a 17-year-old who sucks his thumb to relieve teenage angst. His parents, Mike (played by Vincent D'Onofrio) and Audrey (played by Tilda Swinton) alternate between fits of aloofness and sympathy, but more often than not, brood on the might-have-beens in their lives.

For Mike, his failed attempt at a pro football career causes him to walk around in a daze, while Audrey obsesses about television hunk Matt Schramm (played by Benjamin Bratt).

So it should come as little surprise that when Dr. Perry Lyman floats in (played by a positively Zen-like Keanu Reeves), their meeting, shall we say, sparks a change in Justin's life. The teenager undergoes a radical personality shift, which includes a stint on the debating team with Mr. Geary (played by Vince Vaughan).

And seeing how no one could offer a definitive answer as to what this all adds up to, Mills and his actors had fun gabbing about some of the film's ideas.

Although Mills, who ironically enough wore a suit to work everyday, had a concrete picture of the kind of film he wanted to make ("I had this little movie in my head," he said), he was never trying to seem alternative or quirky - verbs that are bound to be used to describe his movie.

"We weren't interested in being weird or ironic," he said looking at his cast. "'Ordinary People' (Robert Redford's 1980 Oscar-winning film about a family in crisis) was the goalpost. We were into getting to an emotional truth the way that film did. It's not a teenage coming of age film. The characters here are all at the end of their ropes."

"My character wants his parents to have all the answers," Lou Pucci said. "But by the end, Justin realizes you don't need all the answers."

"This film is about the fact that it's important for people, particularly families, to communicate with each other," Swinton said. "But we're playing people who find it hard to communicate. You can't wrap the plot up into a tiny little sentence. So it was clear to me it was going to take some time to get the film made."

"It took five years to make 'Orlando,' so I'm used to this," she added with a grin.

When JAM! asked Keanu Reeves what drew him to the part of Lyman, the star said he was sucked in by the character's "humanity and wisdom."

And when we asked the actor why he likes to alternate between big-budget Hollywood productions and low-key films such as this one, he sounded positively Neo-like. "I'm doing the best I can," he said.

But things quickly went off track when a journalist asked the director how much film he shot.

"Can you get halfway around the world? Can you do a walking trail of the movie?" Reeves said laughingly.

The star also confirmed there is no role that he dreams about playing. For now, he's just happy driving from the backseat.

"Thumbsucker" is in limited release this Friday.