Movie: Lymelife

Lymelife is a nice little independent film starring quite an ensemble cast of Alec Baldwin, Jill Hennessy (of Law&Order), Cynthia Nixon, Timothy Hutton, and the younger cast of Rory Culkin (younger brother of Macaulay Culkin) and Emma Roberts.   

Set in the 1970s of Long Island, New York, Lymelife about two suburban families crumbling as marriages break down, teenage troubles, and Lyme disease (where the movie's title comes from) take place simultaneously.  Rory Culkin stars as Scott Bartlett, the protagonist of the movie.  A timid boy being constantly bullied in school, life around him changes dramatically when he finds out that his father (played by Alec Baldwin) is having an affair with next door neighbor Melissa Bragg (played by Cynthia Nixon).  To complicate matters, Scott has developed a crush on Melissa's daughter, Adrianna (played by Emma Roberts), and she is starting to reciprocate in her feelings towards him. 

 

The movie is very reminiscent of other suburban films like Imaginary Heroes and The Ice Storm. Rory Culkin is very convincing as the troubled and confused teen, and Emma Roberts plays one of her best roles I've seen so far.  Having just done the lackluster Hotel for Dogs, Adrianna being girl-next-door provides the support, friendship, and budding romance that Scott needs amidst the hell breaking loose in the other aspects of his life.  The rest of the cast is brilliant, but in the end, it's a film seen through the eyes of the two kids, and kudos to the young actor and actress. 

「萊姆生活」是一部獨立片，描述1970年紐約長島的市郊生活。故事的重心是一個社區裡的一對鄰居。其中一個家庭為Bartlett，父親(亞歷鮑德溫飾)是小鎮的土地建商，但其個性風流，使得婚姻生活一直處在緊張狀態。故事主要是從家中小兒子Scott的觀點拍攝的。Scott個性內向，膽小怕事，常在學校被別的同學欺負。Scott也暗戀鄰居Bragg家庭的女兒Adrianna(Emma Roberts飾)已久，而她終於開始對他開始也有行動上的表示。當Scott得知他父親和Adrianna的母親(Sex and the City的Cynthia Nixon飾)有婚外情開始，處成長期的他，生活開始變得混亂。

此片描寫美國市郊的生活，和李安的「冰風暴」和Imaginary Heroes「成功背後」是走同一路線。演主角的Rory Culkin，正是演「小鬼當家」中麥考利克金的小弟，真是像極了。Rory飾演的角色，是一位有許多煩擾和困惑的年輕人，原本應是天真的高中生活，卻因為家庭的問題，使他變得迷惘，身性開始轉變。而Emma Roberts，是茱莉亞羅勃茲的姪女，演技相當成熟。Adrianna是聰明懂事的鄰家女孩，卻對身邊周遭發生的事，都抱著一種譏謹諷的態度。她也是Scott在這一切混亂當中，心靈的慰藉。二人多年的友情，慢慢轉為青少年的愛情…

這部片找來的卡司，不算是大咖，不過都是小有名氣的。除了之前說的亞歷鮑德溫，Cynthia Nixon，演Adrianna的爸爸Timothy Hutton，是1980最佳奧斯卡影片中Ordinary Heroes的青少年主角。他的角色在電影中患了萊姆症，在1970那時尚是許多人所不了解的病，除了提供電影的名稱，也提供了電影的時空背景。