Lymelife - B

In theaters. Rated R, 93 minutes. Trailer.

Deconstruction of the suburbs is a favorite subject of American filmmakers. Things aren't perfect, blah blah blah. With Lymelife, promising writer/director Derick Martini adds an earnest and realistic film to the genre, but fails to break free of convention and overdone themes to become a memorable film. The film is set in the 80's and stars Alec Baldwin, Cynthia Nixon, Jill Hennesy, Rory and Kieran Culkin, Emma Robert and Timothy Hutton. Rory Culkin is the main character as he struggles through high school, his parents problems and his love for Emma Roberts. Click below for more on a quality film:

Rory is a 15 year old normal kid in an upwardly mobile Long Island family headed by Alec Baldwin as a smarmy adulterous husband and Jill Henessey as the miserable but bearing it mother. Rory initially can't stand his mom, but sees that she needs his sympathy and through the advice of his visiting brother (Rory Culkin in a great performance) he understands his mother is the sympathetic character. Rory also struggles with his affection for Emma Roberts, daughter of Cynthia Nixon and Timothy Hutton. Their area has been stricken with an outbreak of lyme disease, including a great Hutton as a delusional but occasionally clear thinking witness to the goings on of his wife and Alec Baldwin.

Rory's and his brother's relationship with their parents is very well written and acted. As Baldwin's philandering drives his sons away and reverses their loyalty, their pent up issues spill out. My favorite scenes are when Kieran confronts his dad at his going away party and the following scene in the parking lot between the two brothers. My biggest problem with the movie was the overdone subject, the 'too cute' happy music in the interludes and the obviousness of the model homes juxtaposed against the messiness of the actual lives. Martini has several good shots and some decent references (Catcher in the Rye and others) as well as a a running 'train noise' theme that is obvious and subtle at different times.

There are several funny sequences and the film is not all that depressing. The soundtrack had a shocking number of familiar songs for a low-budget movie - in all likelihood exec. producer Martin Scorsese probably helped secure some of the rights. Worth watching.