Lymelife

The American Dream Sucks.

Scott Bartlett (Rory Culkin) is a typical 15-year-old boy growing up in late-1970s Long Island. His suburban existence is primarily marked by a nerdy interest in Star Wars, fending off bullies at high school, his longtime crush on neighbor/best friend Adrianna Bragg (Emma Roberts), and navigating the dysfunctional terrain of his parents' rocky marriage-all against the paranoid backdrop of a Lyme disease outbreak, which has freaked out Scott's high-strung mother, Brenda (Jill Hennessy), and has already claimed Adrianna's father, Charlie (Timothy Hutton), as a victim.

With Charlie out of work due to his illness, Adrianna's mother, Melissa (Cynthia Nixon), takes a job working for Scott's father, Mickey (Alec Baldwin), a successful real-estate developer, and soon embarks on a messy affair. When eldest son Jimmy (Kieran Culkin) returns from army training and confronts his father about Mickey's less-than-discreet adultery, both families are forever changed by the devastating consequences.
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About the Author- Peter Sciretta is a film geek and popcultured fanboy living in San Francisco. He created /Film in 2005: Filled with good performances across the board and a wonderful coming-of-age story, Lymelife is like Squid and the Whale but in a more relatable, less quirky, suburban setting. Derick Martini’s film is semi-autobiographical, based loosely on the Martini’s own childhood. I can certainly see why the screenplay attracted such a-grade talent over the years. It’s also worth noting that Martin Scorsese executive produced the film.

The finished film does suffer from some minor editing and continuity problems, but that can easily be forgiven considering the film was shot on a low budget over the course of three weeks. The film is filled with references from the era. If you grew up in the late 70’s /early 80’s, you’ll probably relate to the many Star Wars references. The soundtrack is also notable, like that of most films set in the 70’s.

Lymelife is the kind of film that could easily be overlooked, and sent directly to DVD. I encourage all of you to seek Lymelife out when it becomes available either theatrically or on home video.

/Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10