Lymelife is a low budget independent film that has come through the Sundance Lab. Although it was quickly shot with a very low budget you would not think it with its cast that includes Oscar winner, Timothy Hutton.The film is set in Long Island of the late 1970s although the year is not specified. It focuses on Scott (Rory Culkin) a teenage dork, into Star Wars and gets bullied. He is attracted to Adrianna (Emma Roberts) who is maturing into womanhood and attracting male attention.His older brother (Kieran Culkin) who has beefed up in the army takes care of the bullies but his arrival brings into open some family strain. Dad (Alec Baldwin) wants to hit the big time with real estate, he is a womaniser while their mom does not share the dream.Adrianna's dad (Timothy Hutton) is struck down by Lyme's disease and life takes a downward spiral as he realises his wife is cheating and of course he is the one who goes with a shotgun to hunt for deer. Oh dear, this might not end well.This is a coming of age drama from first time writer/directors. Some of the time setting is a bit shaky, The Falklands Conflict took place in 1982 and there was no danger of the USA being involved. Rory gives a warm performance of teenage angst and confusion ably supported by Emma Roberts and the older actors.I suppose the ending is slightly signposted but its a good slice of life drama.

I have never heard of this movie until tonight when I picked it up at the dollar store - seriously. I did like the performances and the script was good. What i didn't like, and this is a small thing but something i never liked in film , was that it was all shot at the bleakest time of year. Looked like late fall. No leaves on the trees,, the grass is not green, the sky is grey. Just a little annoyance for me, but I've always hated that time of year, and it bugs me to see it on film for some reason. The other thing I didn't like was a few strange oddities, such as the brother stating he was going off to the Falklands War. Really? That short war was fought between Argentina and the UK. I don't understand why they would even put that in the script. I was way off, historically. I also didn't get the reference to Lyme disease. Perhaps the girls father did have it,, but it didn't feature hugely into the story other than the fact that he hasn't worked. But otherwise, a good 'see once' film.

Derick Martini's film 'Lymelife' is a fairly conventional, low key tale of growing up in a dysfunctional, suburban family on Long Island. It features a very typical performance from Alex Baldwin, a painfully convincing teenage sex scene and a surprising ending that shies away from sentimentality but which left in two minds: in some ways, the mood of the whole film sits awkwardly between heartwarming and unbearable awfulness, and perhaps there was no single conclusion that might have made it all seem right. Indeed, the better stuff in this movie comes when the subject is less black, more ordinary; elsewhere, it can be hard to watch.

Life in suburbia carries some risks. Not everything turns out to be as expected, in spite of the ideal setting of the new area. Take the Bartletts, of Long Island, for example. They have gone from Queens into an undisclosed location of the "island", as it is known by its inhabitants. We meet Mickey and Brenda, as well as Scott, their teenager son. They have another son, Jim, who has joined the armed forces and has undergone basic training. It is the last year of the 1970s decade. By all indications, the family should be enjoying their good fortune, but in reality they seem to be falling apart. The story is seen through Scott's eyes.Mickey Bartlett, the father, is developing an area for new upscale homes. His assistant happens to be Melissa Bragg, his next door neighbor. Melissa's husband Charlie, has been suffering from Lyme disease, a debilitating condition that has made him unable to work. The Braggs have a daughter, Adrianna, who is friendly with Scott, even attending the same high school as him. Unknown to everyone is the affair Mickey has been having with Melissa, something that Charlie has kept to himself and Adrianna and Scott learn, the hard way.When Jim, the eldest son, turns up for a Thanksgiving celebration, things take an unexpected turn. Scott, who is bullied at the school, reveals the confrontation with his tormentor. Jim goes to defend his brother, beating the other boy. Brenda ruins the turkey by burning it and the family ends up eating TV dinners. When Brenda goes to Charlie's house overhears the passionate encounter between her husband and Melissa, something that serves her to ask Mickey to get out of her life.Adrianna, a popular girl in school, likes one of the jocks. Scott, secretly in love with her, can only look. As the break between the Bartletts become real, Adrianna gets closer to Scott, in spite of his telling another boy he has been intimate with the girl. Adrianna reveals she is a virgin, but she is willing to try to remedy that condition with Scott. Charlie, who has been seen throughout the story walking the woods in search of the deer that have created the condition he finds himself in, decides to go after one deer by taking his rifle. Unfortunately, his action will have tragic consequences.A terrific film by Derick Martini, who together with his brother Steven wrote the screenplay. There are aspects of the story that kept reminding this viewer of Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm", although there are two different situations completely. The beauty of the story is that one can understand how each family got to the situation we are asked to witness. There must be a lot of happy families in suburbia, but for movie purposes, that happiness is only a myth, or so it appears to be the case. Of course, fulfilled families do not make good movies.Rory Culkin makes an outstanding appearance as Scott, the sad teenager who sees the disintegration of his home life. There are never wrong moments for this actor through the film. Alec Baldwin is also amazing with his crude Mickey Bartlett, a self made man on the brink of becoming a millionaire with his real estate project. Timothy Hutton's complex take on Charlie is equally fine. The other principals, Emma Roberts, Jill Hennessy, Cynthia Nixon and Kieran Culkin give good performances.Frank Godwin's cinematography gets us a feeling of being in a place that on all appearances seem great, but it is somewhat hard to understand. Steve Martini is credited as the composer of the original music heard in the film. It is ironic a film about Long Island was actually shot in New Jersey!