Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Better Late Then Never

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Lymelife is a low budget independent film that has come through the Sundance Lab. Although it was quickly shot with a very low budget you would not think it with its cast that includes Oscar winner, Timothy Hutton.The film is set in Long Island of the late 1970s although the year is not specified. It focuses on Scott (Rory Culkin) a teenage dork, into Star Wars and gets bullied. He is attracted to Adrianna (Emma Roberts) who is maturing into womanhood and attracting male attention.His older brother (Kieran Culkin) who has beefed up in the army takes care of the bullies but his arrival brings into open some family strain. Dad (Alec Baldwin) wants to hit the big time with real estate, he is a womaniser while their mom does not share the dream.Adrianna's dad (Timothy Hutton) is struck down by Lyme's disease and life takes a downward spiral as he realises his wife is cheating and of course he is the one who goes with a shotgun to hunt for deer. Oh dear, this might not end well.This is a coming of age drama from first time writer/directors. Some of the time setting is a bit shaky, The Falklands Conflict took place in 1982 and there was no danger of the USA being involved. Rory gives a warm performance of teenage angst and confusion ably supported by Emma Roberts and the older actors.I suppose the ending is slightly signposted but its a good slice of life drama.

Lymelife begins exactly the way its creators want it to. It has a confusing, off-kilter feel to the opening scenes, forcing its various plot points onto the audience in order to, they hope, root you in the story and its characters. However, when it's handled with such dizzying force and the tone rolls around like a pinball, the audience can only respond with bewilderment and indifference.Brother writers Derick and Steven Martini based the screenplay loosely on their own lives growing up on Long Island in the late 1970s. It always amuses me when writers and directors attempt to exploit personal experience as a catalyst for exploring supposed universal themes and ideas. Why use their own lives at all if so loosely? Certainly the outcome of this film did not happen to them, meaning what was the point of starting with a pseudo-real outline if they were just going to divert from it so quickly? At the same time, why is this story set in the late '70s? There are a few cultural references such as US troops being sent to the Falklands and a brief reminder of the Iran hostage crisis, but otherwise the setting is completely arbitrary. If anything, this points to the Martini's attempting to emulate The Ice Storm too much. They strain to give their story emotional content through the setting rather than the characters. As a result, both remain lifeless and inert.Much of the cast seems willing to go the extra mile necessary to breathe life into this story, yet director Derick seems to hold them back at the most critical moments. At this point in his career, Alec Baldwin has seemingly perfected the chiseled-handsome, narcissistic too confident in his accomplishments to see the reality of his actions. Yet, in at least two scenes where he is ready to pounce on the material and tear it wide open, Martini cuts away, as if to leave us hanging deliberately and ponder what might have been. This also causes Baldwin's performance (and others) to come across as stilted. He may be chiseled but his emotions are often trapped in that stony exterior, requiring a little excavation. Jill Hennessy floats but is still swept away by Baldwin in their scenes, while brothers Rory and Kieran Culkin show the best chemistry; effortless, smooth and very natural. Emma Roberts seems to have a breakout role on tap here, but again the director pulls away at times when she could have really let go on her character. Still, her alabaster skin and wide doe eyes are nearly irresistible, proving yet still that she is an actress to watch for in the future.What will bother most is the ending, which is always problematic for these dysfunctional suburbia movies. After all this angst, guilt and turmoil, how does one leave the audience with something memorable and finalizing? Unfortunately, in this case the result is quite cowardly and feeble. If it is supposed to leave us hanging in the balance it does but not for the right reasons. Instead of wondering how or why, we don't wonder at all.

A movie that was well directed and really hits home for a lot of people. This movie was well thought out and researched. I was very pleased at the story line and the acting. I thought it was just going to be a story about Lyme disease, but instead it was a window into what happens when a father forgets what it really means to be a father. Alec Baldwin is perfect for the father character and so is Emma Roberts. She shows that she has only grown with her acting career. She is totally in character and quite believable. The setting for the movie makes even that much more believable as far as what can happen in any family. Thank you for putting together one of the better movies I have seen this year.

The symbolism is cute: miniature houses in the realtor's office represent the lives of Long Island suburbanites. Those adults are, as young Adrianna states, the phonies.I would probably have more sympathy for this film if it weren't yet ANOTHER take on the same theme: the beautiful homes--and the people who inhabit them--are better on the outside than on the inside. "Black Velvet" did it, "American Beauty" did it. Though "Lymelife" has neither the cartoon-ish graphic drama of the former, nor the urbane sophistication of the latter, it peers into the lives of these people and finds the pimples, the warts (in this case, the ticks) that reside within.To their credit, young Emma Roberts and Rory Culkin turn in fine performances; these are surprisingly round characters, and these actors play them with sensitivity and maturity. Timothy Hutton is also entertaining in and understated way. That said, I was unimpressed by Alec Baldwin and Cynthia Nixon's performances.Overall, the story contains some touching moments, but it is too often marred by awkward writing, predictable moments (yes, there is loud sex, and yes, one of the spouses IS actually in the house). Here is another film that features a dark, gloomy look at life in Wonderland, without enough reason for doing so.