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Lymelife

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Lymelife (2009)

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Reviews Counted:72

Fresh:40

Rotten:32

Average Rating:6.1/10

Consensus: Lymelife features sharp performances, but the story lacks the emotional depth or focus worthy of its talented cast.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, some sexual content, violence and drug use.

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Apr 8, 2009 Limited

Synopsis: It’s 1979 on Long Island, New York. Change is in the air -- the promise of a better life luring a new immigration from the city to the suburbs. In this world, real estate development is like... It’s 1979 on Long Island, New York. Change is in the air -- the promise of a better life luring a new immigration from the city to the suburbs. In this world, real estate development is like winning the lottery, and money means success. The rest of the world may sit on a precipice -- the Falkland War looms and before long American hostages will be taken in Iran -- but on Long Island the future is bright, vulnerable only to that which sucks ones soul, much like the contagious Lyme disease ironically found on the picturesque deer that populate the island.

15 year-old Scott Bartlett is at the precipice as well…but he’s unlikely to notice what with his mom duct tapping him up as protection against the dreaded scourge (a disease, she would be quick to note, they don’t have back in Queens) and his dad busy with building the American Dream in the guise of a planned community called “Bartlettown”. Scott does know he is definitely in love with 16 year-old Adrianna next door, but she may or may not have noticed, it’s hard for Scott to read the signs and her family has her a little preoccupied anyway -- her father has the disease and can barely face each new day as her mother now has to head out to work to earn their living by selling new homes in Bartlettown.

When Scott’s brother, Jimmy, returns home for a brief stay before shipping out to the Falkland Islands, Scott is relieved to have a ready champion who can fight his battles, help diffuse their parents fighting, and generally keep an eye out for him. But when even Jimmy has had enough, Scott is forced to look at his world through a different set of lenses.

In a world where money drives men and happiness is delayed until after the success, Scott is about to discover the pedestal he’s built for his idols can barely support the weight of his own youthful innocence, let alone sustain those he places on top. A bright story about the dark side of suburban paradise, Lymelife stars Alec Baldwin, Kieran Culkin, Rory Culkin, Jill Hennessy, Timothy Hutton, Cynthia Nixon and Emma Roberts. Written and Directed by Derick Martini and Steve Martini, Lymelife is directed by Derick Martini. --© Screen Media Films [More]

Starring: Alexander Rae Baldwin, Kieran Culkin, Rory Culkin, Jill Hennessy

Starring: Alexander Rae Baldwin, Kieran Culkin, Rory Culkin, Jill Hennessy, Timothy Hutton, Cynthia Nixon, Emma Roberts

Director: Derick Martini

Director: Derick Martini
Screenwriter: Derick Martini, Steven Martini
Studio: Screen Media

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Reviews for Lymelife

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
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Lymelife doesn't bring much new insight to bear on the topic of the horrors of suburban existence.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment 1 Comment
06/10/09
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
10/22/09
Film Threat

Alec Baldwin here is at the top of his Baldwin-ess: he's selfish, self-martyring, crafty and incredibly human

Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly | comment Comment
04/16/09
Amy Nicholson
Amy Nicholson
I.E. Weekly

Thanks to a strong ensemble cast, it's poignant and funny.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
05/01/09
Andrea Gronvall
Andrea Gronvall
Chicago Reader

Lymelife offers charm and humor through its young central characters and pathos through its remarkable supporting cast, without pulling punches on its overall atmosphere of autumnal darkness and anomie.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
04/17/09
Andrew O'Hehir
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The sterling ensemble portrayals of Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Hutton and the Culkin brothers on the male side and Ms. Hennessy, Ms. Nixon and Ms. Roberts on the distaff side make Lymelife worth seeing, especially in these dire times.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
04/08/09
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Has a terrific ensemble cast with strong performances and occasional moments of razor-sharp wit and tenderness, but it eventually falls apart with a mostly contrived, unfocused plot that fails to be emotionally engrossing, powerful or haunting.

Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | comment Comment
04/10/09
Avi Offer
Avi Offer
NYC Movie Guru

This is a film that really builds to these awkward, uncomfortable places naturally, organically.

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
04/13/09
Ben Lyons
Ben Lyons
At the Movies

Across the board, the performances, in particular Jill Hennessy, are very impressive.

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
04/13/09
Ben Mankiewicz
Ben Mankiewicz
At the Movies

A sort of facile, lesser entry in the canon of movies in which sensible, overly mature kids grapple with philandering and emotionally stunted adults, Lymelife is a bunch of discrete, thematically similar scenes in search of a cogent narrative punch

Full Review Source: Shared Darkness | comment Comment
04/29/09
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Shared Darkness

It's awkward and transparent, inviting more confusion than closure. Lymelife is an attractive indie film package, but a desperately routine one that shock value cannot salvage.

Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | comment Comment
04/09/09
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
BrianOrndorf.com

There's enough here not just to warrant a trip to Lymelife but to keep a close eye on what the Martini brothers do now that their home movies have been made into interesting dramatic fare.

Full Review Source: Movie Retriever | comment Comment
05/01/09
Brian Tallerico
Brian Tallerico
Movie Retriever

Solid performances combine with a sense of warm naturalism to make for engaging, memorable drama.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
05/01/09
Cary Darling
Cary Darling
Dallas Morning News

I've seen Lymelife twice, and I liked it better the first time, when it was called The Ice Storm.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
05/08/09
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

It's a family drama that treads on well-worn middle-class territory but is redeemed by the complexity of the characters and the intriguing ambiguity of their actions.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
04/17/09
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

"Lymelife" is a black comedy that sticks in your throat a little too much to be an enjoyable experience. However, it does have the side effect of making its audience feel superior to the characters on the screen.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/05/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Overall the film feels like The Ice Storm or American Beauty on training wheels, but Martini's next efforts could be well worth watching.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
05/07/09
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Lymelife features frustrated, confused kids, and frustrated, self-obsessed adults.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
04/19/09
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

Lymelife, directed by first-timer Derick Martini and produced by Martin Scorsese, balances grimness and levity with relative success.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
04/23/09
Dan Zak
Dan Zak
Washington Post

Fresh, terrific period drama that captures a swatch of middle-class Long Island suburbia. Solid cast and exceptional writing and directing make this impressive feature debut%u2014a kind of down-market American Beauty%u2014highly watchable and worth the de

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
04/06/09
Doris Toumarkine
Doris Toumarkine
Film Journal International
 
 
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