'Lymelife' review

Wasn't there, like, important stuff that happened in the '70s?

By Geoff Berkshire

Posted April 9, 2009

Metromix

[This review is based on the version of the film that screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, which has since been modified slightly for theatrical release.]

In case you haven’t heard, suburban life in the ‘70s wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. 15-year-old Long Islander Scott Bartlett (Rory Culkin) watches helplessly as his parents (Alec Baldwin and Jill Hennessy) bicker endlessly, and his dad hooks up with the unsatisfied mother (Cynthia Nixon) of Scott’s crush Adrianna (Emma Roberts). Oh, and Adrianna’s father (Timothy Hutton) has lyme disease, which gives the movie its title and the opportunity for something a little different in a storyline that sounds awfully familiar.

The buzz: Culkin inherits the awkward-teen-in-an-awkward-indie mantle from his older brother Kieran (“Igby Goes Down,” “The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys”), who also shows up here as Scott’s on screen older brother. While writer-director Derick Martini is making his debut, he’s got a significant behind the scenes backer: executive producer Martin Scorsese.

The verdict: “The Ice Storm” warmed over. Despite a solid cast, “Lymelife” is just one more period coming of age film that never comes into its own. Anyone curious to see former tween star Roberts make a bid for adulthood by swearing, smoking pot and having sex on screen will find what they want, but the rest of us can only hope for something a little more original from Martini the second time around.

Did you know? “Star Wars” fans will have a bone to pick with the movie’s timeline. Even though the film is set in the late ‘70s, Scott references Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian who didn’t appear on screen until 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back.”