Lymelife

Director: Derick Martini, Steven Martini; Screenwriter: Derick Martini, Steven Martini; Starring: Alec Baldwin, Cynthia Nixon, Timothy Hutton, Jill Hennessy, Kieran Culkin; Running time: 95 mins; Certificate: 15

Has there been a subject that filmmakers have put under the microscope more than the American Dream? Cinema has tracked America's journey from youthful idealism (American Graffiti, Stand By Me) through to middle-class suburban angst (The Ice Storm, American Beauty) over the years. Sometimes the two even intertwine perfectly (The Last Picture Show). Derick Martini's Lymelife - starring Alec Baldwin, Rory Culkin, Kieran Culkin, Emma Roberts and Cynthia Nixon - is the latest film to put a slowly-eroding American family in its crosshairs (sometimes literally). Much of its tenor is hoisted from the aforementioned films, but on its own terms it’s a finely acted and moving drama that punctuates bleakness with moments of wry humour.

Set in Long Island at the tail end of the '70s, it concerns neighbours the Bartletts and the Braggs. The spark has gone from Mickey Bartlett's (Baldwin) marriage to Brenda (Jill Hennessy) and their two sons Scott (Rory Culkin) and Jimmy (Kieran Culkin) are keenly alert to this. Next door isn't much better; Charlie Bragg (Timothy Hutton) has Lyme disease and his wife Melissa (Cynthia Nixon) is having an affair with boss Mickey. Also caught up in the tangled web is Adrianna (Emma Roberts), who's close friends with Scott but, much to his despair, shows no romantic interest.

The surface detail may seem familiar, American Beauty comes to mind in the last reel, yet this isn't as flamboyant a picture as Mendes's. It's pared down but equally devastating as Martini subtlety pushes his actors to emotional limits. The casting of real-life siblings the Culkins is vital - their secretive conversations behind bickering mum and dad's back rings true as does their good-natured joshing. Baldwin, a renaissance man since taking up residence on 30 Rock, delivers a fantastic turn as the dad boxed in by his family home's four walls.

Mickey sees his sons as too sensitive and lacking direction, which clearly irks him. A big conflict comes with Jimmy, on leave from the army, who confronts his father about his infidelity and the effect it's having on his mother. Mickey uses it as an excuse to psychologically beat down his eldest, saying: "You're either chasing something or running away from something. Me, I chase." The line's a poignant one - Mickey is at once chasing what he can't have and running away from his responsibilities. Baldwin and Culkin are terrific in this showdown. Remarkably, the latter hasn't been seen on screen since 2002's Igby Goes Down. He appears to be the most naturally gifted of the Culkins and, fortunately, it appears he'll be more present on the big screen with a role in Edgar Wright's forthcoming Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Tween star Emma Roberts also leaves an impression as the girl who Scott, the emotional anchor of the film, pines for. Their blossoming relationship begins to boil over in one memorable scene where she exposes her chest to him in a confessional booth (Catholic guilt ahoy!).

Lymelife admirably avoids heading down the path of the quirky American indie, but it does have the odd failing. Hutton's Charlie doesn't have the depth of Martini's other characters, too often coming across as the "weird neighbour" - this makes the film's resolution somewhat easy to see coming. It's a shame there's sloppiness in the timescale, too, with the late '70s backdrop out of sync with events on screen: the Falklands conflict is referenced, as is The Empire Strikes Back, a movie not released until 1980. These are minor grumbles though, because in the end Lymelife is a sharply-observed character study with some masterful central performances.


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