Rory Culkin and Emma Roberts in Lymelife
My overall impression of Lymelife was that the movie touched upon similar chords of dysfunction, and attempted to make some of the same commentaries, as The Ice Storm. However, Lymelife was more successful in my opinion mainly because the audience feels less emotional detachment watching these unhappy lives intermingle and corrode one another than in The Ice Storm. What Derick and Steven Martini are able to accomplish is to create dysfunction, unhappiness and ultimately a dystopia with which anyone can identify. We become engaged as active participants in the tale, invested rather than simply observers. Due to the seemingly mundane circumstances and run-of-the-mill nature of the characters it even presents a more compelling portrait of suburbia than did American Beauty.
What makes it such a relevant story is the mirroring of circumstance and the intermingling of lives. It's not that there is necessarily earth-shattering originality in the story. It's how the unhappiness of two families intertwine and ultimately lead to their ruination, change and dissolution that make it great from a narrative perspective. Everyone has a facade or image behind which they hide before slowly revealing their true selves.
The title Lymelife overplays the backdrop and metaphor that the initial outbreak of Lyme's Disease on Long Island really plays within the story. Don't allow this to dissuade you. Keep in mind any disease in its infancy causes paranoia and note that very little of the film, aside from one infected character, centers around the disease.
This film illustrates the importance of strong ensemble acting. No actor is miscast, all are very good and some surprisingly so. Rory Culkin had all but disappeared, appearing only in more narrowly distributed indies and supporting roles since Mean Creek. Rory’s combination of anger, sensitivity, awkwardness and charisma prove that he will be ready to take on adult characters once he looks old enough to play them. Emma Roberts, Julia's niece, very quickly dispelled notions of nepotism as she turned in another fabulous performance. When given a better character to work she is proving more than capable. She and Culkin felt truly as if they were old friends. Cynthia Nixon, of Sex and the City fame, has a great turn and a convincing Long Island accent that would surprise many. Alec Baldwin probably stretches the least playing a belligerent, drunken, angry father but at least he is playing something he knows he can do and the audience will accept. Kieran Culkin, Rory's older brother both in real life and in the film, does a fine job in his big screen return and proves that siblings generally work brilliantly together. I never saw John Cusack better than he was acting against Joan in The Martian Child. Timothy Hutton who usually annoys me was fantastic, last but not least is Jill Hennessy who may just have stolen the show as Alec's unhappy wife. I went on just to illustrate just how difficult an ensemble drama can be with so many players and when all of them do a fabulous job it's something special. I will be hard pressed to see a better ensemble performance this year.
All of them greatly enhance and amplify the wonderful story and dialogue they were given to work in the screenplay. I hope Newmarket Press's The Shooting Script series picks this one up because it is definitely worth a read. There is nothing out of place. Everything is about character, the story flows very well, and character is always being built. The only hiccups are probably edit related, and are minor.
Do yourself a favor and get to the Ritz at the Bourse and catch what is likely to be one of the best films of the year.
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