Lymelife brings forward the dark side of a suburban paradise. It is a story of love and rejection, mystery and adversity, which is crafted on the lives of the director brothers Derick Martini and his brother Steven. They wrote the screenplay together and also co-edited the film.

Set in the Long Island during 1970s, Lymelife focuses on two families, the Bartletts and the Braggs struggling to deal with economic problems and Lyme disease. The adults in the film – Alec Baldwin and Jill Hennessy presented as Micky and Brenda Bartlett, Cynthia Nixon and Timothy Hutton as Melissa and Charlie Bragg are described as ill-equipped and aweful role models for their kids – Rory and Kieran Culkin as Scott and Jimmy Bartlett and Emma Roberts as Adrianna Bragg.

The story of Lymelife moves around a sensitive and clumsy 15 year old boy, Scott Bartlett. His family life suffers a lot after the Lyme disease hits the community and spreads illness and paranoia. The movie has bonafide and classic touch with the look of a true American indie. The soundtracks of 70s are a real crowd pleaser. Despite the presence of few dark themes, the story has a bit of humor element. You can compare it with slightly lighter films like American Beauty or Snow Angels. Rory’s relationship with Emma is one of the best descriptions of first love and the awkward sexual encounters you have during that period.
 
Coming to photography, it’s top notch. The cinematographer Frank Godwin preferred long takes and tracking shots for building tension and making the audience stay in tune with the flow of the story. Martini has allowed Rory’s face and eyes to speak more by removing dialogues in some of the most powerful scenes.
 
The entire cast of Lymelife has given an outstanding performance. Timothy Hutton and Cynthia are impressive, but Rory catches all the attention. His offscreen relationship with his brother is so beautifully translated onto the screen that viewers will find it hard to distinguish between virtual and real life act. In some scenes, Martini left the camera rolling to capture the playfulness of both the boys. All this has made the story more real and painful.
 
The twists and turns make Lymelife an ultimate story of wonders and discovery. You will find out different possibilities presented by youth after watching the movie. The style of Martini’s direction resembles lot to that of David Gordon Green (Snow Angles). He has a unique style of working, where he works more on getting maximum actions from actors. This gives a natural look to the story.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 16th, 2009 at 12:30 am and is filed under Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.