LYMELIFE — ★★½ — Rory Culkin, Emma Roberts, Alec Baldwin; rated R (profanity, violence, vulgarity, sex, drugs, slurs); Broadway Centre
Martin Scorsese may have been the executive producer for "Lymelife," but the film more closely resembles the works of Ang Lee and Noah Baumbach.
In fact, this depressingly bleak, family dysfunction drama is quite reminiscent of Lee's 1997 adaptation of "The Ice Storm" and Baumbach's 2005 Sundance Film Festival hit "The Squid and the Whale." That's not necessarily a good thing.
Despite having a first-rate cast, this is all too familiar stuff. While the performers do what they can with the material, we've seen this premise done too many times, especially recently.
This story is set in the late 1970s, a period when the possibility of contracting Lyme disease — believed to be spread through infected tick bites — was on a lot of people's minds.
That explains why sometimes doting mother Brenda Bartlett (Jill Hennessy) is so adamant about keeping her teenage son, Scott (Rory Culkin), protected from the elements.
She'd be better off protecting him from more realistic threats. Scott is being picked on by the school bully (Adam Scarimbolo), though the emotional damage his classmate and seemingly unrequited love, Adrianna Bragg (Emma Roberts), is inflicting on his fragile psyche is even more damaging.
Meanwhile, Scott's successful real-estate magnate dad, Mickey (Alec Baldwin), is carrying on an extramarital affair with Adrianna's mother, (Cynthia Nixon).
Co-screenwriter/director Derick Martini's plotting gets a bit soapish. And a subplot involving Scott's thuggish brother (Rory Culkin's real-life brother, Kieran) is abruptly dropped and goes unresolved.
Still, there are a few moments with real truthfulness. It would be nice to see more of Adrianna's headcase father, (Timothy Hutton), rather than his shrewish wife.
"Lymelife" is rated R and features strong sexual language (profanity, vulgar slang and other suggestive references), some brief strong violence (bullying, fisticuffs and gunplay), some off-color humor and references (scatological), simulated sex and other sexual contact (some of it overheard), drug use and references (marijuana and prescription abuses), some underage drinking, and derogatory language and slurs (some based on sexual orientation). Running time: 94 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com