Lymelife Reviews
KPBS.org
Lymelife captures the look and feel of a very specific era in American life.
Top CriticAt no point did I feel bored or condescended to, and even though the ending may be overwrought, it had me gripping my chair.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
San Diego Union-Tribune
The rest of the cast is splendid, including Alec Baldwin, a long way from the network executive on the TV sitcom 30 Rock.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Movieline
[A] fine chronicle of disaffection, dissolution and lust on Long Island in the 1970s.
Full Review
| Original Score: 8/10
Screen International
Culkin and Roberts hit the right balance of savviness and clumsiness as teenagers who are smart enough to see what their parents try to conceal.
Independent
A slight feeling of déjà vu pervades its depiction of unhappy families. But it has a tender heart, and the imprimatur of Martin Scorsese as executive producer.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Paste Magazine
Though not particularly original, Lymelife is well acted and smart, and the Martini brothers' work is worth following.
Full Review
| Original Score: 7.4/10
Time Out Chicago
Martini coasts on ambience and good song choices (some associated with the films of his executive producer, Martin Scorsese) and rallies with a refreshingly ambiguous ending.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Tthe third-act plot developments telegraph themselves well in advance.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
7M Pictures
The film was meant to be a tear-jerker, but the only tears I encountered were the ones that I was bored to.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Movie Talk
Like The Ice Storm, Martini's story climaxes with a devastating event, but whereas the earlier film's denouement had the force of tragedy, Lymelife's ending appears overly contrived.
Empire Magazine
Boasting an outstanding ensemble cast, this small-budget indie is an at-times poignant tale of family life.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
This is London
There's nothing remotely original about Derick Martini's saga of American suburban life in the late Seventies. It has all been done before - but Martini's first feature is so sharply written and well acted that it appears fresh as a daisy.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Radio Times
Derick Martini's first feature may inhabit similar territory to The Ice Storm and American Beauty, but it's not overshadowed by them.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Dark Horizons
An attractive indie film package, but a desperately routine one that shock value cannot salvage.
Boxoffice Magazine
While they may not claim the marquee power of Baldwin or Nixon, Culkin and Roberts bring Lymelife its best performances and help boost the film above the ranks of the ordinary, dysfunctional family tale.
NPR.org
For all its emphasis on suburbia and its discontents, Lymelife never quite convinces that its story's environs are essential -- or even all that interesting.
