Movie Review: Lymelife (2008)

Lymelife is a story about "the American Dream" and how a quiet, well-to-do suburban family is not all the it appears. The story centers around Scott, the younger son in the Barlett family. There is a sort of youthful ignorance in his character that is both somehow endearing and embarrassing. He misunderstands the family situation many times over. His ignorance is highlighted by his older bother, Jimmy, who in contrast to Scott, understands the complicity/duplicity of the relation between husband and wife. In a subplot, Scott has been in love with Adriana, a neighbor's daughter, since was like 8 years old. His struggles to understand her and how she feels about him in return are humorous. Like his ignorance about his family's situation, Scott also does not know how to interact/get with Adriana.

This movie is darkly humorous filled with clever subtlty. The characters surrounding Scott all know what's going on and make sly remarks throughout the movie. The scenes are filled with knowing looks over little Scott's head (even though he in high school and should understand relations better by now). The tension between the older brother (who has his mother's heart, who would not willingly fight out in the open) and the dad I found fascinating, with tension vibrating between them and unspoken words filling the air. The acting was superb on all the characters' parts. Alec Baldwin, who plays the dad, was not actually the funny character, but he was so well rounded and wonderful. The Culkin brothers were also stupendous. 

The only thing that made me want to stop watching, was Scott (Rory Culkin) constantly embarrassing himself unintentionally. It was cringe worthy, how unknowing he was. We all feel it too as an audience, because we don't really know what's going on either. At least he shows a mature grace when admitting he is wrong. I guess this is realistic, as all teenagers are stupid and ignorant about at least one aspect of life. Also, this movie was made with only 1.5 mil and in about a month, which is really impressive. 

Rating: 4/5

- L E E N A