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68%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #4,043
...out of 20,886 movies
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A coming of age dramedy where infidelity, real estate, and Lyme disease have two families falling apart on Long Island in the early eighties. Scott, 15, is at the point in his life when he finds out that the most important people around him, his father, his mother, and his brother, are not exactly who he thought they were. They are flawed and they are human.
--IMDb
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In recent years the quirky family drama has taken on a life of its own. The Ice Storm really set the groundwork for an onslaught of films like American Beauty, Little Miss Sunshine, The Squid and the Whale, Imaginary Heroes and others too countless to name. Lymelife is the latest in this grand tradition of dysfunction and oddball scenarios. It feels like a hybrid between The Ice Storm and The Squid and the Whale, striking a balance between quiet pain and blunt cynicism. And, in 2009, I can see where it might be difficult for an 'average' family to relate to these kinds of problems or even understand where these characters are coming from. I mean, the 1970's were different. There was more open-mindedness and inclusionism and people weren't afraid to do whatever it took to be happy, even if that meant breaking a few moral sticks along the way.
The Bartlett Family is front-and-center of Lymelife and it tells their story. Father Mickey (Alec Baldwin) is successful developer who informs his family that they will be millionaires within a year. He is a hard-worker, but slips up in the marriage department with their neighbor, Melissa (Cynthia Nixon). Melissa's life isn't sunshine either; her husband, Charlie (Timothy Hutton) has been diagnosed with lyme disease and can't seem to make it out of the house for more than a few seconds unless he's hunting in the woods. Brenda Barlett (Jill Hennessy) is a typical 1970's housewife who keeps her family together but also has to deal with mounting unhappiness and disapproval with what she knows her husband is doing. Their sons - Scott (Rory Culkin) and Jimmy (Kieran Culkin) are very different from them. Scott is in high school, has a crush on his best friend (Emma Roberts) and is trying to figure out where and how he fits in. Jimmy is in the military and understands firsthand just how messed-up their lives actually are.
The central focus of this family saga is Scott. I guess you could say Lymelife is his coming of age tale, but he does so through the rise and fall of the various other characters in the picture. Scott is a nice blend of shy, awkward and uncoordinated - with just enough charm and wit to make him a catch to a lot of girls. He is picked on at school and called 'Fartlett', but that seems to be more out of his dad's standing than his reputation for being unpopular. Scott's biggest struggle is what to think of his mother and father once he learns what is going on. How could his mother allow this to go on? How could his father ever do something like this? Lymelife doesn't offer his character any easy explanations other than - "Sometimes people make mistakes because they are unhappy." In a way, that sums up life quite nicely. The other pseudo-journey in the film is taken by Charlie, a loving father who has been stricken with an exhausting disease that affects his mental stability more than anything else. This character is presented like a time-bomb set to explode at any moment. And the ending of the film, which belongs to Charlie, leaves a lot of unanswered questions - and it definitely lets us end the film ourselves.
There is an old saying that two Culkins are better than one. In this instance, I would have to agree. Both Rory and Kieran have a natural chemistry (of course, they're brothers) that really pays off in their scenes, though they don't have many together. Rory has really come into his own. He's already turned in stellar performances in films like Mean Creek and Signs, but here he really gets to show what he can do. Kieran has matured a little more awkwardly, and while we don't see those flashes of genius that we saw in Igby Goes Down, we still see a capable and demanding performer. Alec Baldwin and Jill Hennessy portray one of the most convincing unhappy couples I have seen on screen in a long time and Baldwin, especially, gets to shine in his scenes where he is constantly having to explain himself. But if there's a stand-out here it's Timothy Hutton, who proves once again why he won an Academy Award for Ordinary People. He has great energy and life on screen and he really turns Charlie into a memorable character. His scene with Baldwin in the bar is just riveting and his pacing is perfect.
So, what else is there to say about Lymelife? How about a verdict? I think it's one of the best American films of the year. Sure, you can say that is doesn't really venture into any uncharted territory, but it really does excel at what it does and it creates a series of interesting, relatable and flawed characters. It doesn't rose-color anything and it gives us another look at the 1970's that is a little more optimistic than The Ice Storm. What I appreciated most about this film was that it didn't feel the need to tie up loose ends. It presented a small section of one family's life and that is all we needed to see. Sometimes, less is more. Writer/Director Derick Martini should have a bright future ahead of him and I'm anxious to see what he tackles next. Unlike Dan Harris, the writer/director of Imaginary Heroes, this film doesn't feel like s subtle-fake. It feels more authentic. Thank the script, the performances and the period for that.
9/10.
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#1:
Lucid Dreams
- added June 13, 2010 at 2:52pm
This was a pretty good movie, I don't feel it
deserves a 9, but it was still solid flick. 7/10
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